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RICE RATOONING - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

RICE RATOONING - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

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<strong>Rice</strong> ratooningand ratoon-based systemin KeralaK. Karunakaran, N. Rajappan Nair, and C. A. RosammaDivision of Crop Improvement, Regional Agricultural<strong>Research</strong> Station, Pattambi-679 306, IndiaABSTRACTEleven major cropping situations, making up the total 740,000 ha under rice in Kerala,and an estimated possible area of 120,000 ha for rice ratooning are presented. The 3-yrdata from ratooning studies presented suggest that varieties of 140-160 d duration arebetter than short-duration ones for good ratoon yields. Reduction in size and weight ofgrains has been indicated in the produce from ratoon crop. Suggestions for future workon rice ratooning in Kerala also are presented.Although there is no typical rice ratooning being practiced in Kerala, one specialsystem of rice cultivation locally known as koottumundakan resembles ratooning insome aspects. In this system, a mixture of a photoperiod-sensitive, long-durationrabi (postrainy season) variety is sown in kharif (rainy) season to take two harvests,one in kharif and the other in rabi. Although after the spread of the high-yieldingsemidwarf rice varieties remarkable regrowth and biomass production fromharvested stubble have been observed, only one study actually evaluating ricevarieties for their ratoon yields has so far been reported from Kerala (1). Results offurther studies in this line are presented and the possibility and potential of riceratooning in Kerala are discussed.ESTIMATES OF AREA<strong>Rice</strong> is cultivated in Kerala on about 740,000 ha. Rainfall pattern, topography, andsoil conditions have given rise to some very special systems of cultivation in about28% of this area. Analysis of the 11 major cropping situations in the state shows thatabout 120,000 ha could be brought under rice ratooning (Table 1).Palliyal landsAt least two-thirds of the area under this category is severely affected by drought, notallowing a second crop. This area could be brought under ratooning, contributing anadditional area of 20,000 ha.

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