RICE RATOONING - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

Scope for rice ratoon croppingin the northeastern hill regionof IndiaT. Ahmed and G. R. DasRice Research Station, Assam Agricultural UniversityTitabar, AssamABSTRACTRice-growing conditions in the northeastern hill region are evaluated. There isconsiderable scope for ratooning ahu rice (April/May-July). However, growing a ratooncrop from sali (July-Nov) rice is not feasible because of drought and low temperature inthe ratoon crop season. Lowland boro (Dec-May) rice also cannot be ratooned because ofwater stagnation. Work needed includes surveys of potential areas for ratoon rice,development of high ratooning varieties for particular land types, and evolution oflocation-specific agronomic practices.The northeastern hill region of India, comprising seven states — Arunachal Pradesh,Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Tripura — has diverse ricegrowingsituations. This paper gives background on rice cultivation and evaluates thescope for ratoon cropping in the region.THE TERRAINIn the hilly terrain of the northeastern region, rice is usually grown in valley bottomsand on the lower terraces of the hill slopes with fair moisture regimes. Maize is grownon the middle terraces with low moisture regimes, ragi (finger millet) and sesame on theupper terraces with poor moisture regimes, and forests on the hill tops. In other areas ofnortheastern India such as Assam, extensive plains are available for growing lowlandrice. Some of these areas are flood-prone, but most of the plains are flood-free andsometimes suffer drought. Even in low-lying areas depending on the distribution ofmonsoon rain, drought prevails in the premonsoon and postmonsoon periods.RICE GROWING SEASONSNormally there are three well-defined rice growing seasons in the plains of this region:Ahu rice - from March/April to JulySali rice - from June/ July to NovemberBoro rice - from November to May