Iraq, for example, was a big customer before the embargo, and a lifted embargo would make Louisiana exports go up. At the Rice Research Station operated by LSU in Crowley, Dr. Joe Musick, resident researcher, is excited about two new genetically altered rice strains to be introduced soon. These will finally solve the problem of the red rice weed. A weed is a plant that s growing in the wrong place, Musick says. The new rice seeds are immune to the effects of two herbicides that kill red rice.
Farmers can plant, spray and celebrate.
Today almost every new variety of rice seed comes as a result of institutional research rather than from a lone inventor like Sol Wright. Musick, however, keeps a stock of all old rice seeds, so he still has some Blue Rose around. Soundings Rice farming in Louisiana has changed through the years. The pumps made such a mournful sound, over and over, like a heart beating. Musick points out that irrigation pumps today use diesel motors that keep up a steady hum, which he says makes him sleep better.