Whether or not the concerns raised by Consumer Reports with
regard to the safety of U.S. rice are warranted, the fact that this has
created some unease among consumers is evident. South Korea this week resumed US rice imports, deeming US rice safe after testing by the Korean Food and Drug Administration. (5) This is a positive development, but domestic concerns still remain. These concerns must be addressed, and doing so will likely require
changes to water management. Abundant,
on-demand surface water availability will be essential to any new water
management techniques that address this issue.
Mandates Likely
It is likely the FDA will at some point in the near future
establish arsenic level standards. In
fact, federal legislation has been introduced that, if passed, will mandate
this. (1) Any federal mandate should be
coupled with funding for surface water projects, like the Bayou Meto Water
Project, that are already in process but have unfunded, shovel-ready components
that must be completed to move water to farms.
Mitigation will
Require Dependable Water Source
Research has indicated that arsenic uptake is lower in
aerobic versus anaerobic growing conditions.(2) To take advantage of this,
farms may need to move toward an intermittent flooding technique, where fields
are flooded, allowed to dry, and the re-flooded. While this could potentially use less total
water over the course of a season than more traditional methods, it will
require that sufficient water is available when it is needed. As we learned from the drought of 2012, it is
very difficult to irrigate rice from underground wells alone, and re-flooding
drained fields is sometimes nearly impossible in hot and dry conditions. For this reason, farmers will rightly be
hesitant to move toward intermittent flooding until water is made more predictably
available. They will instead likely opt to
bank as much rain or irrigation water that is available in wetter and cooler
conditions in order to withstand oppressive summer heat and dryness that seems
to have become the norm in rice growing regions across the mid-south. But at some point, these new water management
techniques will be necessary, and when they are, it will be important to have a
dependable surface water supply.
Economic Impact of Rice Industry
Texas A&M, in a 2010 study,
identified the US rice industry as having a $34 Billion dollar impact on the
economy and as providing 128,000 jobs.
The industry also contributes to a secure and stable domestic
food-supply, providing 86% of rice consumed domestically.(4)
The rice industry touches every facet of our
economy. As our industry works to
address these new issues that have been raised, it is important that policy
makers consider the importance of funding water projects that will very likely
play an integral role in the steps that will likely have to be taken.
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4.
http://ww.usarice.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1815&Itemid=328
5. http://www.brecorder.com/agriculture-a-allied/183/1247808/
5. http://www.brecorder.com/agriculture-a-allied/183/1247808/
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