ratoon
Definition
Noun:
- A shoot or sprout that grows from the root or stump of a plant, especially sugarcane, after it has been cut down.
Verb:
- Intransitive: To produce such shoots or sprouts (used primarily for plants like sugarcane after harvesting).
- Transitive: To cause a plant to produce ratoons by cutting it back.
Usage Examples
Noun:
- The farmer left the sugarcane field to grow ratoons for the next harvest. (New shoots sprouting from the cut stumps.)
- Ratoons are often weaker than the original plant, requiring careful management. (Shoots from the root.)
Verb:
- Sugarcane will ratoon vigorously after the first cutting. (The plant produces new shoots.)
- Growers ratoon their cane fields to save on replanting costs. (Farmers intentionally cut back the plants to encourage ratooning.)
Advanced Usage
"ratoon crop": a harvest obtained from ratoons rather than newly planted seeds or cuttings.
- The second ratoon crop yielded less sugar than the first. (The harvest from regrown shoots was less productive.)
"ratoon stunting": a bacterial disease that affects ratooning sugarcane.
- Ratoon stunting can significantly reduce yields in subsequent seasons. (A disease that hinders shoot regrowth.)
Variants and Related Words
Ratooning (n/adj): the process or practice of allowing plants to regrow from stumps.
- Ratooning is common in tropical agriculture for crops like banana and sugarcane. (The method of regrowth.)
Ratoonable (adj): capable of producing ratoons.
- Not all sugarcane varieties are equally ratoonable. (Able to produce shoots after cutting.)
Synonyms
- Shoot: a new growth from a plant.
- Sprout: a young growth emerging from a seed or root.
- Sucker: a shoot that arises from the root or lower stem of a plant.
Related Idioms
Phrasal Verbs