Water Resources Research Act Program

Principal Investigators: Thomas Zimmerman

Abstract: Rice is a major staple throughout the Caribbean and in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Though rice is the major form of starch consumed in the U.S. Virgin Islands, no rice is produced here. A rice trial was conducted last year involving a private company that focuses on genetically engineered rice. Genetically engineered rice was found to be productive on St Croix under quarantine conditions. However, the genetically engineered rice grown was neither a commercial cultivar nor approved for human consumption. With the increased price of food imports experienced during the last fuel spike, concern has been generated regarding food security. The research proposed here to be conducted will utilized four commercial rice cultivars and focus on water usage for rice production under drip irrigation and flood irrigation. The four rice cultivars selected include early, midseason and late cultivars. A pre-baccalaureate will be involved in the proposed rice production, data collection and entry into a spreadsheet for analysis. The results from this research will provide vital information on the water requirements for rice production in the U.S. Virgin Islands that would be applicable to other small Caribbean island countries.