Progress and challenges of rice ratooning technology in China

Abstract

Rice ratooning is an ancient technology with limited adoption in the past due to low and unstable grain yield in the ratoon crop. Manual harvesting of the main crop also limited the widespread of this technology due to labor shortage. Mechanized rice ratooning technology with the main crop harvested mechanically has been developed in China over the past ten years. Key practices for achieving high yield in mechanized rice ratooning system are variety selection, optimization of planting date, proper water and fertilizer management, and optimal straw cutting height. With implementation of those key practices, the grain yield of ratoon rice has increased significantly, especially in the ratoon season. Farmers could produce the grain yield as much as 9–10 ​t ​ha⁻¹ in the main season and 5–6 ​t ​ha⁻¹ in the ratoon season in the mechanized rice ratooning system. The improvement of the grain yield has stimulated the area expansion of mechanized ratoon rice in China. Rapid development of mechanized rice ratooning technology in China strongly suggests that this technology is the most effective in increasing total rice production with reduced labor requirement and other agronomic inputs. In this review, following questions will be answered. Why is the grain yield of the mechanized ratoon rice so high in China? What are the challenges and solutions for further upscaling of ratoon rice in China? What is the future outlook of ratoon rice development in China?