Ratoon rice cultivated by farmers in Guangshan: one planting, two harvests, selling for 40 yuan per jin
Rice is like chives: cut one crop and another grows back. South of the Yangtze River this has long been nothing new, but north of the Yangtze River it was once the extravagant hope of millions of rice farmers. Now, after 4 years of trials and cultivation, the Zhongsen High-Efficiency Agricultural Cooperative in Guangshan County has successfully grown ratoon rice.
Although the second crop of ratoon rice yields only one third of the first crop, its grain quality is good and its added value is high, with rice selling for more than 40 yuan per kg, bringing farmers very considerable economic benefits.
Old rice roots grow new rice plants
On September 12, in a rice field near Zhaowan Village, Hushan Township, Guangshan County, two farmers were spreading fertilizer in a rice field that had already been harvested.
The rice field had been harvested not long before and was a mess, with the remaining yellow rice stubble. Could the farmers be applying fertilizer to the soil for the next season's planting? Old Chen, the farmer busy in the field, said: “This is ratoon rice; after cutting it still sends up new shoots and grows rice. We are applying fertilizer to promote rapid growth.”
“Have you ever heard that rice can still grow after being cut?”
This farmer said: “I am already over 70 years old and had never heard of it before. This year I have really learned something new. It turns out rice can be like chives: cut it and it still grows.”
In another nearby rice field that had been harvested only in mid-August, green new shoots had already grown from the old rice roots, and a few of the faster-growing ones had already headed. Technicians from the township agricultural technology station walked into the rice field and casually picked one clump of old rice roots to count how many new shoots had sprouted; there were surprisingly more than 20. He said: “This is about the same as newly planted rice.”
This technician said that in fact, rice planted in the past also showed the phenomenon of sending up new plants after being cut, but it was only an isolated phenomenon and could not form a scale effect or effective yield. Now, the first crop of the more than 2,000 mu of ratoon rice planted in this area generally yields more than 1,100 jin per mu, and some is even higher than the yield of ordinary rice. The second crop yields more than 400 jin per mu. Although lower than the first crop, the grain quality is good, the taste is good, the nutrition is richer, the rice sells for a high price, and the economic benefits are especially good.
The pathfinder in ratoon rice cultivation
Guangshan County's success in growing ratoon rice is closely related to the efforts of Guangshan native Tang Fuxiu.
Tang Fuxiu, 46 years old, originally worked as a senior executive at an enterprise in Zhengzhou, with a generous income and no worries about food or drink. The severe drought in Guangshan County in 2000 gave him quite a shock, and his comfortable life changed from then on. He said: “That year my hometown had no harvest at all, and the village party secretary also went out to work. I thought, if even the village party secretary goes out to work, how are ordinary farmers supposed to live? I advised the village party secretary not to go out to work, and said I would return to my hometown to contract land and run a farm.”
Tang Fuxiu did what he said. That same year he contracted 2,000 mu of land to develop ecological agriculture. Who would have thought that the ideal was so full but reality so bare: whatever he did, he lost money. Raising ducks, no one wanted the ducks; planting sweet potatoes, the sweet potatoes rotted in the field and no one dug them up.
Relying on others is not as good as relying on oneself. In 2006 Tang Fuxiu formally resigned and returned to his hometown to do agriculture, adjusting the planting structure and switching to fruit and ornamental plants, and only then did returns gradually improve. But this was not Tang Fuxiu's goal. He hoped to drive more farmers and more returning entrepreneurs to prosperity. But where was the way? He set his sights on ratoon rice.
The Guangshan County area has plenty of water and is very suitable for growing rice. Before this, scientific research institutions in the agricultural departments had also trial-planted ratoon rice in many places in Guangshan County, but all ended in failure, and afterward the idea of growing ratoon rice locally was abandoned.
Tang Fuxiu said: “I had never heard of ratoon rice before either, but after going to the south and seeing it I was deeply moved and resolved to introduce it to Guangshan County to benefit farmers.”
Tang Fuxiu led the establishment of the Zhongsen High-Efficiency Ecological Agriculture Cooperative, adopting the strategy of doing demonstrations himself, having large households drive it, and small households following up, gradually introducing and promoting ratoon rice. In 2012, he introduced one ratoon rice variety and planted 3 mu. But the first battle was lost: the second crop from 3 mu yielded only more than 500 jin of rice. Yet there was also something gratifying in the failure: everyone tasted the rice produced and all said it was delicious, with broad market prospects in the future.
This boosted Tang Fuxiu's confidence in introducing and growing ratoon rice. The next year he planted 14 mu of ratoon rice, and the second crop reached more than 380 jin per mu. This was already a huge breakthrough, and Tang Fuxiu was overjoyed. But at the same time he also reflected: why had the second crop of ratoon rice not reached the ideal yield?
The key to yield lies in the number of new plants sent up. Tang Fuxiu and technicians continuously analyzed and looked for causes, explored issues such as how to apply fertilizer to promote new shoots to sprout and grow, and when to release water into the rice field to better accelerate growth, and found a new method suited to local climate conditions.
In 2014, Tang Fuxiu's cooperative planted more than 300 mu of ratoon rice. The first crop reached 1,500 jin per mu, far higher than the rice yields of other local varieties; the second crop reached more than 360 jin per mu. He said: “Last year's climate was especially suitable for early rice growth. By the second crop, because the temperature was rather low and there was a lot of rain, the yield declined somewhat.”
This year Tang Fuxiu fully promoted ratoon rice, and the cooperative planted more than 2,200 mu in total. He said: “Judging from the ratoon rice yields of recent years, ratoon rice has now been successfully grown in Guangshan County. We once planted 8 varieties, and after several years of trials it proved that only two varieties are suitable for planting in this area, with relatively notable yield and economic benefits.”
High yield, good grain quality, hot market
Tang Fuxiu's success in growing ratoon rice overturned the local traditional concept of rice cultivation.
Tang Fuxiu selected 36 households from among the cooperative members to grow ratoon rice, hoping that the demonstration of examples would drive more people to grow ratoon rice and become prosperous.
Pei Renhe is from Zhaowan Village, Hushan Township, Guangshan County. He has contracted more than 400 mu of land in total and is also a major local grower. He said: “I have grown rice for seven or eight years and had never heard of ratoon rice before. Generally, after growing one crop of rice, the land is left fallow in winter.”
Encouraged by Tang Fuxiu, Pei Renhe planted 70 mu of ratoon rice this year and achieved a bumper harvest. He said cheerfully: “When I first planted it I was a bit afraid. If the yield were low, I would be in trouble. I never expected that this year the first crop would reach more than 1,300 jin per mu, higher than the yield of ordinary rice; the second crop is now also growing very well.”
Lu Ensong was one of the first 5 members to start a cooperative with Tang Fuxiu. He has contracted more than 1,000 mu of land and planted more than 100 mu of ratoon rice this year. He said: “I am not at all afraid to grow ratoon rice. Old Tang trial-planted it for so many years and proved it successful, and there is also technical guidance: when to fertilize, when to spray, when to release water, all guided in great detail. The rice from the second crop is purchased and sold uniformly by the cooperative, so there is no need to worry that the rice cannot be sold.”
At present, the rice produced by the second crop of ratoon rice tastes good and is quite popular in the market, selling for more than 20 yuan per jin, bringing farmers very considerable economic benefits.
High yield, good grain quality, hot market
Tang Fuxiu's success in growing ratoon rice overturned the local traditional concept of rice cultivation.
Tang Fuxiu selected 36 households from among the cooperative members to grow ratoon rice, hoping that the demonstration of examples would drive more people to grow ratoon rice and become prosperous.
Pei Renhe is from Zhaowan Village, Hushan Township, Guangshan County. He has contracted more than 400 mu of land in total and is also a major local grower. He said: “I have grown rice for seven or eight years and had never heard of ratoon rice before. Generally, after growing one crop of rice, the land is left fallow in winter.”