Scope for rice ratoon cropping in the central and northern belts of India
1988
Singh, B.K. (Rajendra Agricultural Univ., Bhagalpur, Bihar (India). National Agricultural Research Project)
The prospects of rice ratoon cropping in the central and northern belts of India are assessed in light of two critical requirements: water and suitable temperatures. Experimental evidence indicates the possibility of growing a ratoon crop of summer rice, which at present is grown only in small areas due to lack of irrigation. In areas following the sequence summer rice-kharif (rainy season) rice-wheat, kharif rice may be replaced, at least partially, by a ratoon crop of the summer rice. A summer rice ratoon crop could also be taken between the two rice crops by shifting the transplanting of kharif (photoperiod-sensitive) rice to a later date, using a system known locally as kharuhan (where seedlings are transplanted from the first nursery into a second nursery before final transplanting in the field) or older healthy seedlings where land needs to be vacated by September for early planting of winter crops (early potatoes, chillies, Brassica campestris var. toria, berseem or Trifolium alexandrinum chillies, sugarcane, winter maize), a summer rice ratoon may find a place in the cropping system. Ratoon rice cropping of early-maturing kharif rice also appears feasible, provided varieties possess some cold tolerance at heading. Rice varieties harvested in November-December cannot be ratooned because of low winter temperatures and demand on the land for wheat cultivation. Ratoon cropping of boro (November-May) rice grown in flood-affected low-lying areas and the mid-lowlands of Katihar and Purnea Districts of Bihar and parts of West Bengal and Northeastern India needs to be tried. Cropping patterns involving ratooning must prove to be successful, giving the farmer advantages over existing ones in terms of better profits and reduced labor requirements.
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