The Rice Stewardship Partnership, composed of DU, the USA Rice Federation, and 44 collaborating partners, will assist up to 800 rice producers to address water quantity, water quality, and wildlife habitat across 380,000 acres in Mississippi, Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Missouri, and Texas. Using remote sensing to estimate bird population carrying capacity in shallow waters and the Field-to-Market Fieldprint Calculator to monitor results over time, the partners offer several innovations to augment conservation implementation and gain broader producer participation.
This RCPP program will assist landowners and rice producers who voluntarily implement conservation and management practices that help improve irrigation water management, control sediment and nutrient runoff, and provide waterfowl habitat on rice production lands. The main goal is to reduce groundwater demand in the alluvial aquifer from rice production to insure sustainability of the water source for future rice production.
Funding will be available to eligible landowners through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). NRCS will provide financial assistance for a systems approach using approved conservation practices for the purpose of addressing resource concerns. Land and producer eligibility, adjusted gross income, and all other program criteria for participation must be met to participate in this initiative. Agricultural lands are eligible for enrollment in the initiative.
The 30 counties in Arkansas in the project area are:
Arkansas, Ashley, Chicot, Clay, Conway, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Desha, Drew, Faulkner, Green, Independence, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lee, Lincoln, Lonoke, Mississippi, Monroe, Phillips, Poinsett, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Randolph, St. Francis, White, and Woodruff.
