What’s Rice Ratooning? OLD FARMING TECHNOLOGY TO AVERT RICE SHORTAGE

When I posted an article yesterday on the Quick Turn-Around Plan for the Rice Sector in Mindanao to avert a possible shortage of supply, I received so many inquiries on “Rice Ratooning.”

Ano daw ang Rice Ratooning? Bago ba ito na technology?

The answer is No!

Rice Ratooning is as old as rice farming in the Philippines.

Old farmers in my tribe call the second growth as “Salape” and the ratooning as “Patulos.” Among Ilokano farmers, it is called “Sagibo.” It is “Pasubing” in Leyte, “Dagingding” in Bicol and “Sangang Buko” among Nueva Ecija farmers.

It is actually the second growth of rice which allows the farmer to have a second harvest in just a little over two months cutting production period by about two months.

There are at least two major crops which use the Ratooning Technology – Sugarcane and Sorghum.

The only downside to this technology for rice is that the harvest is usually only 1/3 of the harvest of the normal planting process.

The upside is that there is a Quick Turn-Around because there is no need for the farmer to till and prepare the field and sow seeds or plant again.

All that the farmer needs is water and a little fertilizer.

The use of the Combine Harvester now makes the use of this old technology even easier because the rice stalks are cut at ground level to allow Rice Ratoons to grow faster.

As we are catching up on our rice production in Mindanao in the face of the expected skyrocketing of rice prices in the world market and the lean months ahead, Rice Ratooning, one of the three activities to be undertaken under the QTA Plan, could indeed prove to be very beneficial and critical in averting a shortage of supply.

I am posting here a link to a very extensive article on Rice Ratooning so readers would know more about it.

(Photos were downloaded from public websites while the last photo is a grab of the Asia.Nikkei report on a projected drop in rice production and an expected increase in rice prices worldwide.)