Texas A&M AgriLife Tackles Rice Delphacid Devastation

Supports National Task Force, Launches New Insecticide Trials To Protect Texas Rice

KAY LEDBETTER

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS

Texas A&M AgriLife experts are serving as key research and Extension partners in a new multistate response led by USA Rice to address the devastating spread of rice delphacid, an invasive pest now threatening thousands of acres across Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.

 The task force unites rice growers, consultants and scientists from partner universities across the Southeast to coordinate urgent action, as Texas A&M AgriLife leads research, education and outreach efforts to help rice producers protect their crops and livelihoods.

“We are in a crisis situation,” said Sam Rustom, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service agronomist and assistant professor in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Eagle Lake. 

Texas rice producers typically plant 145,000-180,000 acres annually, making the state one of the top five rice-growing states in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service.  Arkansas produces about 1.15 million acres, Louisiana grows 425,000-460,000 acres and Mississippi grows 125,000-155,000 acres. Texas primarily produces long-grain rice, including aromatic varieties like jasmine and basmati.

Rustom said the pest has already claimed thousands of acres in Texas in 2025, and no economically viable solutions currently exist to control it.

Texas A&M AgriLife’s rapid response

To mitigate the immediate threat and find long-term solutions, Rustom, alongside other experts across Texas A&M AgriLife, began working with researchers at both Louisiana State University and the University of Arkansas to identify new chemistries and practical management strategies to help producers control the pest and salvage this season’s crop.

The Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Beaumont, located at the epicenter of the outbreak in Texas, is leading the research and outreach for the Texas industry. Infestations of delphacid and the hoja blanca viral disease are even impacting the center’s own rice fields, according to Mithila Jugulam, Ph.D., center director and professor.

Lina Bernaola, Ph.D., a Texas A&M AgriLife Research entomologist in the Texas A&M Department of Entomology, has created a fact sheet to help the public understand the insect. She has already begun working with growers on insecticide efficacy trials at farm locations and within the Texas A&M AgriLife center at Beaumont to provide solutions to producers.   ∆

KAY LEDBETTER

TEXAS AGRILIFE