Dr. Steve Linscombe

Director-The Rice Foundation|USA Rice Federation

2023 Abstract - HOW ARE SOUTHERN U.S. RICE BREEDERS ADDRESSING THE SPECIFIC NEEDS OF LATIN AMERICAN CUSTOMERS: A high percentage of U.S. long grain rice exports are destined for customers in Latin American countries. In the last 10 plus years, U.S. exporters to these countries have received complaints about the quality of rice they are shipping. These complaints range from appearance quality (amount of chalk, uniformity of grain size, translucency, and color) to cooking quality (primarily that the U.S. rice cooks too sticky). U.S. breeders have adjusted their breeding programs to address these quality concerns and new varieties are forthcoming that will address these quality concerns.