Economic Analysis of Hybrid Rice Performance in Arkansas

Abstract

Despite the rapid producer adoption of hybrid rice (Oryza sativa L.) in recent years, the economic advantage of hybrid rice in the mid‐southern United States remains disputed. This study compared the economic risk and return of three popularly sown hybrid rice cultivars: XL723, Clearfield (CL) XL729, and CL XL745; and eight conventional rice cultivars: Cheniere, CL 142‐AR, CL 151, Francis, Roy J, Taggart, Templeton, and Wells, using University of Arkansas experimental test plot data from 2006 to 2010. Paddy and milling yield data on each cultivar were used to estimate a Just–Pope production function, allowing comparison of mean yields and mean yield variances across cultivars. A Monte Carlo simulation was used to compare net returns and net return variance (risk) across hybrid and conventional cultivars. Just–Pope estimation results indicated that hybrid cultivars exhibited mean paddy yield premiums of 1.6 to 2.4 Mg ha–1 relative to the best‐performing conventional cultivar (Francis); furthermore, the hybrid yield advantage was not associated with increased yield risk. Among hybrid‐CL and conventional‐CL cultivars, hybrid milling quality was not statistically different. Among non‐CL cultivars, the hybrid XL723 exhibited a mean head rice yield premium relative to conventional alternatives. Monte Carlo simulation results suggested that the net revenue advantage of hybrid cultivars makes them preferable to conventional alternatives in the CL and non‐CL categories across the entire range of producer risk preferences considered in this study.

Seasonal Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions of Several Rice Cultivars in Direct-Seeded Systems

“…The optimal scenario for a cultivar with the lowest GWP Y is for it to have the highest yield and the lowest GWP and for these characteristics to persist across environments and years. Three Southern hybrid cultivars, including CLXL745 tested in the present study, have been shown to yield 1 to 1.7 Mg ha -1 more than the highestyielding conventional alternative (Francis) in Arkansas (Lyman and Nalley, 2013), which is corroborated by our results at AR-1 and AR-2 (Table 4). Thus, given that the lowest CH 4 -emitting cultivar at AR-2 was the hybrid, CLXL745, and that hybrids tend to yield more than conventional Southern cultivars, lower GWP Y values are expected (Table 5).…”

Estimating Cultivar Effects on Water Usage and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Rice Production

“…In other words, would producers sacrifice profit at the expense of conserving water and/or reducing GWP? Previous research on hybrids in Arkansas has indicated that producers would not sacrifice profit at the expense of conserving water and/or reducing the GWP (Lyman and Nalley, 2013). Lyman and Nalley (2013) reported that hybrids had greater rough‐rice yields, at least as large milling yields, and greater net return relative to non‐Clearfield and Clearfield conventional alternative cultivars in Arkansas and concluded that none of the hybrid cultivars were associated with greater yield risk or yield variance than their conventional counterpart cultivars.…”

“…Previous research on hybrids in Arkansas has indicated that producers would not sacrifice profit at the expense of conserving water and/or reducing the GWP (Lyman and Nalley, 2013). Lyman and Nalley (2013) reported that hybrids had greater rough‐rice yields, at least as large milling yields, and greater net return relative to non‐Clearfield and Clearfield conventional alternative cultivars in Arkansas and concluded that none of the hybrid cultivars were associated with greater yield risk or yield variance than their conventional counterpart cultivars. This point is important given that producers often value yield stability as much as yield potential, which would indicate that, unlike other water‐ and GHG‐saving production techniques (i.e., alternative non‐flooding irrigation methods), there is no economic disadvantage to adopting hybrid cultivars; in fact, there is probably an economic incentive.…”

The Production, Consumption, and Environmental Impacts of Rice Hybridization in the United States

“…In effect, hybrid acreage in the Mid-South, as a percentage of total harvested acreage, increased from 15% in 2005 to over 40% in 2013 . Previous research in the Mid-South (Arkansas) found that hybrid varieties exhibited mean paddy yield premiums of 1.6 to 2.4 Mg ha -1 relative to the best-performing conventional cultivar ('Francis') and were found to be associated with no increase in yield variability (Lyman and Nalley, 2013). A broad study by Nalley et al (2016) that covered Arkansas and Mississippi observed that hybrid and Clearfield (CL) hybrid varieties had a paddy yield premium over conventional varieties of 1.66 and 1.82 Mg ha -1 , respectively.…”