What Does Ratoon Rice Mean? A Detailed Guide to High-Yield Cultivation Techniques
Rice is a cereal crop we cannot do without in our lives, and it can be divided into conventional rice and hybrid rice. With the development of planting technology, a type of ratoon rice has come into people's view, featuring a short growth cycle and low investment. Let's take a look below at what ratoon rice means, along with high-yield cultivation techniques.
I. What does ratoon rice mean?
Ratoon rice is a rice planting model that has a long history of cultivation in China, dating back 1700 years. Its characteristic is that after the single-season rice matures, only about the upper 2/3 of the rice plant is cut off, the rice ears are harvested, and the lower 1/3 of the plant and root system are left behind, then fertilized and cultivated to let it grow another season of rice.
After the primary rice harvest, high temperature and humidity are favorable for the sprouting of ratoon buds, ensuring a large number of seedlings and early heading. After the first-season rice harvest, the suitable temperature for sprouting is a daily average temperature of 25.5°C~28.0°C, and the suitable relative air humidity is 88%~87%; more sunshine hours are favorable for bud sprouting and growth; the temperature requirements for the heading and flowering period of ratoon rice are the same as those for double-season late rice. Likewise, for the daily average temperature over 3 consecutive days, generally hybrid rice must not be lower than 23°C, and japonica rice must be greater than 20°C; good water source conditions are favorable for maintaining shallow water and moisture during the heading and maturity stages of the first-season rice, maintaining high survival rate of buds and root vigor; applying an appropriate amount of fertilizer before the first-season rice matures is favorable for bud growth.
II. High-yield cultivation techniques for ratoon rice
1. Variety selection
In variety selection, it is advisable to choose late-maturing single-season varieties with clean and handsome late-stage coloration and a multi-ear type, while also taking into account the characteristics of high temperature resistance, lodging resistance, disease resistance, and good ratooning ability. Such as Shenliangyou 867, Xinliangyou 223, Liangyou 6326, Fengliangyouxiang No. 1, and Huanghuazhan, etc.
2. Plant the first-season rice well
The first-season rice should be sown appropriately early, and the heading time should be calculated backward according to the variety's growth period, to avoid the harm of summer high temperatures during the heading and grain-filling stages, and not affect the quality and yield of the first-season rice. Direct-seeded fields can be sown in mid-March.
3. Timely fertilization
After the first-season rice is harvested, promptly remove weeds, straighten the rice stubble, and apply 7-10 kg of urea per mu to promote early growth and rapid development, striving for uniform and even seedlings to ensure a sufficient number of seedlings. At the same time, after the ratoon seedlings begin heading, depending on the weather conditions, use "920" at 1-2 g/mu, diluted with 50 kg of water and sprayed 1-2 times, to promote uniform heading, improve the seed-setting rate, and increase yield.
4. Reasonable irrigation
Within I0 days after the first-season rice harvest is the period of ratoon tiller growth. After combining fertilization and rewatering, keep the field moist to nourish the roots and promote tillering. From 24 to 30 days after harvest, the ratoon rice enters the heading and flowering stage, and the field surface should maintain shallow water. During the grain-filling stage, keep it alternately dry and wet to help nourish the roots and preserve leaves, make the grains plump and full, and increase yield.
5. Timely prevention and control of pests and diseases
Ratoon rice should be protected against pests such as the second and third generation striped stem borers and rice planthoppers, as well as damage from rice neck blast and rats and sparrows.