It also saves 60% on the cost of cultivation. Studies on ratooning ability, overcoming ratoon decline, and early ripening of ratoons will be desirable in times to come.
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In response to manuring, NMC gradually increased in succeeding ratoons. The average cane weight (ACW) is relatively lesser in ratoon crops and it gradually decreased in subsequent ratoons. Manuring also increased ACW by 62-75%. Interaction to space is relatively more pronounced in a ratoon crop as compared to its corresponding plant crop and perhaps due to this ratoon crops can tolerate a gap of 10% without any appreciable reduction in cane yield.
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Nematode assays need to be done before stepping on any managements later. Threshold for plant and first ratoons (per gram of roots) is 300 while threshold for old ratoons (per gram of roots) is over 900. Crop rotation with legume plants on sugarcane fields can reduce the number of plant parasitic nematodes. However, this management has a temporary effect because a high concentration of these nematodes will be resurged within a year of growing fields.Stirling, G.R., Wilson, E.J., Stirling, A.M., Pankhurst, C.E., Moody, P.W. and Bell, M.J (2003).
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The number of ratoons in sugarcane production cycles varies throughout the world, i.e., from one plant crop in Indonesia and some parts of China, one plant crop and a ratoon crop in India, Fiji and some parts of China, to six or more successive ratoons in Mauritius, Cuba, Venezuela, clayey soils of Zimbabwe, some parts of Puerto Rico, etc. The later is also referred to as multiple ratooning. A decline in cane yield in successive ratoon crops, the so-called "ratoon decline", on the order of 20%, had been reported from many sugarcane-growing areas in India; the decline is more (up to 40% ) in subtropical India.
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Daphne Marie Rooke (née Pizzey) (6 March 1914 – 21 January 2009 Obituary by R. W. Johnson in the National Post, Canada, 2 Feb. 2009) was a South African author of works such as "Mittee", "Ratoons" and "Wizards' Country". She also wrote travel articles and books for children set in India, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
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In more technologically advanced countries like the United States and Australia, billet planting is common. Billets (stalks or stalk sections) harvested by a mechanical harvester are planted by a machine that opens and recloses the ground. Once planted, a stand can be harvested several times; after each harvest, the cane sends up new stalks, called ratoons. Successive harvests give decreasing yields, eventually justifying replanting.
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In Tobago, metayers were frequently required to provide the labour to operate the sugar mill. The sugar produced was shared between the land-owner and the metayers. Normally, half the sugar went to the metayer, but if the land-owner provided a field of ratoons (resprouting canes that had been planted in a prior year) the metayer's share was only one-third to one-fifth of the sugar. The system was first introduced in Tobago in 1843, and by 1845 it was generally adopted.
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The new root system (shoot roots from the developing shoots) develop in 6–8 weeks after harvest subject to soil and weather conditions. Ghosh et al. observed that, per unit root weight, shoots developed relatively more in the settlings raised from stubble buds as compared to those from top cane buds. Experiment at Kalai (Aligarh, in sub-tropical India) indicated that the maximum number of tillers were attained by July and maximum number of canes (NMC) increased gradually in the subsequent ratoons and it was also associated with increased tiller mortality.
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