RICE RATOONING - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

COMMERCIAL RATOON RICE PRODUCTION IN TEXAS 261Table 2. Estimated average annual yield (t/ha) and cost of production ($/t) inTexas, 1983-85.Year198319841985Yield a Cost b Hectarage in(t/ha) ($/t) new cultivars (%)4.85.56.3295.40273.10239.0013580a Source Crop Reporting Service. b Based on Gerlow’s production cost estimates.Table 3. Main, ratoon, and total yields (t/ha) and estimated production cost ($/t) forLemont, Skybonnet, and Labelle cultivars. Texas, 1985. aMain crop Ratoon crop Total cropFieldsCultivarArea Yield Cost Area Yield % of Cost % of Area Yield Cost % of(no.) (ha) (t/ha) ($/t) (ha) (t/ha) main ($/t) main (ha) (t/ha) ($/t) maincrop crop cropyield costcostLemont 21 1,375 6.6 233 844 2.3 34 63 27 844 9.6 176 75Skybonnet 14 690 5.8 263 372 2.0 34 66 25 372 8.0 205 78Labelle 3 351 5.5 275 284 1.6 30 73 27 284 7.2 227 83a Survey by J. W. Stansel.interest in ratooning as a way to reduce per unit production costs. Newly releasedcultivars Lemont and Skybonnet have higher main crop yield ability than Labelle,the principal cultivar in Texas and the South for almost a decade (4, 5). With highlevels of management, they also appear to have higher ratoon crop potential. Withthe increase in Texas rice hectarage planted to the new cultivars, from 1% in 1983 to80% in 1985, average yields increased from 4.3 to 6.3/ha (Table 2). At the same time,estimated costs of production declined from $295 to $239/t.Stansel (unpublished data) compared yields of the main and ratoon crops ofLemont, Skybonnet, and Labelle in 1985 and estimated the unit cost of production(Table 3). He also analyzed the costs of production among producers who obtainedvery high yields with Lemont and Skybonnet (Table 4). Unit cost of production wasinversely related to yield of both the main and the ratoon crops. There was a distinctcost advantage in growing a ratoon crop. For both the main and ratoon crop, theunit cost of production was lowest for Lemont. Fields that produced very high yieldsrequired the lowest costs and provided the greatest economic benefits.ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF RATOONINGBecause the ratoon crop requires little additional input over the main crop, theprincipal advantage of ratooning rice in the U.S. is the lower unit cost of production.A successful ratoon crop can add significantly to overall rice farming profitability.But, despite the potential profit ratooning may provide, only about 50% of theproducers in those areas of the Southern U.S. where ratooning is possible actuallygrow a ratoon crop. A 1982 informal survey of the rice-producing counties in Texasshowed a wide variation in the proportion of the crop that was ratooned (from below