Researchers are working on a new variety of rice. Sabrina Hill has more.
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Researchers from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture have used three rice cultivars to develop a rice line with favorable yield, quality and disease resistance characteristics. It also has a natural capacity to suppress weed development. David Gealy of the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center says one of the varieties in this line has naturally occurring substances that suppress weed growth.