High-Yielding Rice Production through Ratooning in Southwestern Japan

Ratooning is a cultivation technique that involves harvesting a second crop (referred to as a ratoon) originating from the stubbles of the first crop. Rice ratooning has been implemented in countries located in tropical and temperate regions. Based on recent studies conducted in southwestern Japan, this review introduces and discusses the effects of harvest time and cutting height of the first crop and the roles of leaf blades and nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) in the stubbles of the first crop on grain yield to provide the essential information necessary for the development of rice production technologies using ratooning.