The cultivation of ratoon rice may constitute a source of additional income. However, to make it economically viable an adequate harvesting system of the main crop is necessary. With the objective of evaluating the response of irrigated ratoon rice to the harvest equipment, cutting height, management of stubble after harvest and fungicides, experiments were conducted during two consecutive years. In the first year, harvesters with three types of equipment (straw chopper, straw spreader, without chopper and spreader); two heights of cutting and four fungicide treatments were evaluated. In the second year, besides harvest equipments three stubble management practices (compactor roll, straw chaffer and without management) and five fungicide treatments were assessed. The straw chopper was superior in increasing the grain yield and quality, in comparison with normal harvest without utilizing this equipment. The fungicide applications increased grain yield and reduced incidence of grain discoloration and consequent improvement in quality of the product. The roll compactor did not contribute to growth and yield of irrigated ratoon rice crop. The straw spreader increased yield only when the cutting height was low.
Oryza sativa; harvest equipment; management of stubble; grain yield; milling quality; grain quality
