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Ratoon Rice Response To Nitrogen Fertilizer: Jason A. Bond, 1373 Caffey Road, Rice Research
Ratoon Rice Response To Nitrogen Fertilizer: Jason A. Bond, 1373 Caffey Road, Rice Research
Abstract
Field research was conducted for 2 years to determine the N
fertilizer application rate producing maximum ratoon rice grain
yields. The long-grain rice cultivars Cheniere, CL161, Cocodrie,
and Cypress were grown using a delayed-flood, drill-seeded
production system. Immediately following harvest of the main
crop, N fertilizer at rates of 30, 60, 90, or 120 lb/acre was
applied as urea. No ratoon rice lodging was observed in any site-
year at any N fertilizer application rate. Ratoon days to 50%
heading was delayed 1 day when the N fertilizer application rate
was increased from 60 to 90 or 120 lb/acre. Ratoon rough rice
yield increased significantly from 2390 to 2710 lb/acre as the N
fertilizer application rate increased from 30 to 90 lb/acre, but
increasing the N fertilizer application rate from 90 to 120 lb/acre
did not improve ratoon rough rice yields. No ratoon rice lodging
was observed in any site-year at any N fertilizer application rate.
In this study, the N fertilizer application rate producing
maximum ratoon rice yields in the Gulf Coast area of the United
States was 90 lb/acre.
Introduction
Over 3.2 million acres of rice (Oryza sativa L.) were planted
in the United States in 2005 with production concentrated in
Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas
(13). While the rice acreage in the United States is small
compared with that of other crops such as corn (Zea mays L.) or
soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr], rice is an extremely important
crop in areas of the southeastern United States, especially in
Louisiana and Arkansas, which accounted for 65% of the total
United States rice acreage in 2005.
Increasing rice grain yields per unit of area is one approach to
improving total rice production (17). Ratooning, the practice of
harvesting grain from tillers originating from the stubble of a
previously harvested crop (main crop), enhances rice grain yields
without increasing land area (12) because it provides higher
resource-use efficiency per unit of land area and per unit of time
(17).
Research indicates that ratoon rice productivity is influenced
by N fertilization (1,12,19). Bahar and De Datta (1) reported
ratoon rice grain yield increases of 450 lb/acre as the rate of N
applied to the ratoon crop increased from 0 to 54 lb/acre. Ratoon
rice grain yields of both ‘Labelle’ and ‘Lebonnet’ increased with
increasing N applied to the ratoon crop (12).
Rice has been ratooned in the Gulf Coast areas of Florida,
southwest Louisiana, and Texas since the early 1960s (9), but
research focused on improving recommendations for ratoon rice
in these areas is limited. Current Louisiana recommendations for
ratoon rice production suggest application of N at 75 to
90 lb/acre immediately following main-crop harvest if harvest
occurs prior to August 15 and establishment of the ratoon-crop
flood immediately following N fertilization (16). For ratoon rice
production in Texas, recommendations for reflood timing and N
fertilization are based on soil type (10). Research addressing
management of ratoon rice is vital to improving total rice
production in the rice-growing areas of the Gulf Coast. The
objective of this research was to determine the N fertilizer
application rate producing maximum ratoon rice grain yields.
Acknowledgment
The authors thank the staff of the Louisiana State University
AgCenter Rice Research Station for their assistance in this
research. The Louisiana Rice Research Board provided partial
funding for this research.
Published with the approval of the Director of the
Agricultural Experiment Station, Louisiana State University
AgCenter, manuscript number 05-61-0462.
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