Division of Agriculture releases Lynx, a high-yielding medium-grain rice variety

By Fred Miller

Lynx, a new medium-grain rice variety from the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, offers high yields and early maturity.

“Lynx consistently showed a yield advantage over both Jupiter and Titan in rice-growing areas north of I-40 and west of Crowley’s Ridge, where the majority of the state’s medium-grain rice is grown,” said Xueyan Sha, professor and rice breeder for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the Division of Agriculture.

“Lynx reaches 50 percent heading in an average of 86 days, the same as Jupiter,” Sha said, “but it matures three to four days earlier. It appears to have a better seedling vigor than Jupiter and a slightly better milling yield than Titan.

“Its plump kernel size is similar to that of Titan but much larger than Jupiter,” he said.
Lynx averaged 207 bushels per acre in 62 statewide and regional replicated trials from 2016 through 2019, Sha said. That’s compared to 202 bushels per acre for Jupiter and 201 bushels per acre for Titan.

Those tests also indicated Lynx has good grain and milling quality, and good lodging and blast resistance compared with Jupiter and Titan, Sha said.
Lynx had an average milling yield of 59 percent whole kernel and 68 percent total milled rice in 30 state and regional tests, Sha said.

In tests where the plants were inoculated with disease, Lynx showed moderately susceptible to leaf blast. Also, in inoculated tests and under natural infestation, it appeared susceptible to sheath blight and false smut, similar to Jupiter. It is more susceptible to bacterial panicle blight, false smut. Lynx is more susceptible than Jupiter to bacterial blight, but only because Jupiter is the only rice variety with a moderate level of resistance to the disease, Sha said.

Sha said 4.5 acres of Lynx foundation seed was grown this year and will be available to seed growers in 2020. Seed will be available to rice producers in 2021.