Dr. Rodante Tabien, Texas A&M AgriLife Research rice breeder, Beaumont. (Texas A&M AgriLife)
The AgriLife center in Beaumont has long been a landing spot for foreign researchers and graduate students because the facility focuses on rice, a major staple worldwide. Rice feeds more than half of humanity, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Because most Texas rice is grown along the Gulf Coast, the Beaumont facility has been researching the crop in that region for more than 100 years. Top scientists from U.S., China, Vietnam, India and the Philippines are there to work on variety development, entomology, plant diseases, plant physiology, weed and water management, genetics, and soil and crop nutrition.
Extending the agriculture community
The center also reaches out to graduate students worldwide and hosts area public school science teachers for hands-on instruction to take back to high school classrooms. The goal of both efforts is to convey an urgency that in order to keep up with the world food demand, young minds need to fill the shoes of numerous well-known researchers who are approaching retirement, officials said.
“One of our missions is to extend our research and knowledge to the community,” said Dr. Mo Way, AgriLife Research entomologist in Beaumont and organizer of the annual science teacher in-service day for the region. “And beyond that, my colleagues and I have talked about whether there will be anyone to replace us in a few years when we retire.
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Continue reading this story by Kathleen Phillips on AgriLife Today.