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California’s 2,000 family rice farmers produce high-quality rice for domestic and international uses, and they’re doing it in ways that benefit people and wildlife.
California rice production provides approximately 500,000 acres of habitat annually. This habitat provides nearly 60% of the food resources consumed by wintering waterfowl in the Central Valley and is the sustenance for 2.5 million of the 5 million ducks using the Pacific Flyway.
California is a great place to grow rice! Rice is typically grown on land whose drainage characteristics aren’t well suited to many other uses, but are ideal for rice. In the last 30 years, California rice production has achieved a 40% increase in water use efficiency. In fact, it takes about the same amount of water to grow a serving of rice as it does to grow an orange, or a serving of broccoli.
Listen to the Coalition’s ‘Farm Water Minute – Rice’ promotional by clicking here.
You can learn more about growing rice in California by checking out the “How Rice is Grown” page at the California Rice Commission website by clicking here.
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