Rice Farming
- 1. Rice Farming
- 3. Rice Farming Rice is one of the world’s staple (main) foods Across huge areas of South East Asia millions (billions?) of people depend on rice farming for survival We will focus on intensive subsistence rice farming
- 4. Ideal Rice Growing Conditions: High temperatures Large amounts of water Flat land Fertile soil
- 5. Where in the world? Tropical areas have high temperatures and high precipitation Coastal lowlands and river floodplains are good areas Sometimes terraces can be built to allow farming in hilly areas
- 6. Where in the world?
- 7. You can grow rice on hillsides . . .
- 8. . . . but this is a more common rice farming landscape.
- 9. The Rice Farming Landscape Traditional rice cultivation involves flooding the fields (sometimes called padis ) for part of the year. This leads to the creation of a very distinctive landscape: The padis are usually fairly small Earth embankments, called bunds, surround the padis Canals and rivers criss cross the land, carrying water to and from the padis Houses/settlements are often located on embankments or raised ‘islands’
- 10. The Farming Year: A.Gradually drain the fields so rice can ripen B. Repair bunds and canals C. Harvesting D. Cultivation of off-season crops eg. vegetables E. Weeding and thinning rice F. Transplant the seedlings into the padis G. Flood and plough the padis H. Animals graze in the fields (eat stubble and fertilize soil) I. Plant seeds in nursery beds
- 11. The Farming Year: 1. Repair bunds and canals 2. Plant seeds in nursery beds 3. Flood and plough the padis 4. Transplant the seedlings into the padis 5. Weeding and thinning rice 6. Gradually drain the fields so rice can ripen 7. Harvesting 8. Animals graze in the fields (eat stubble and fertilize soil) 9. Cultivation of off season crops eg. vegetables
- 12. Flooding the padis . . .
- 13. Preparing the padi for planting
- 14. Transplanting rice seedlings by hand . . .
- 15. Sharing the work at harvest time . . .
- 16. The Monsoon The Monsoon is a season of particularly heavy rainfall. The exact time of year it happens can vary from place to place – some regions have two monsoons a year. Rice farmers generally take advantage of the monsoon rains and the rise in river levels to flood their fields
- 17. What’s good about buffaloes?
- 18. “ Clever Stuff” The buffaloes provide milk and meat and fertiliser and labour – and they live off the stubble from the rice crop Growing beans and some vegetables puts nitrogen back into the soil for the next rice crop Trees around the padis provide food (coconut and bananas) and fuel and stabilise the bunds with their roots Fish are farmed in the canals and padis and reservoirs – they provide food and fertiliser
- 19. Features of traditional rice farming systems Polyculture: lots of things are going on at once (opposite to monoculture – only one crop) Each part of the farming system is linked to the others. Many of the outputs also become inputs Lots of labour goes into the farm (intensive) and this is often done cooperatively It can support high densities of population The system is ‘sustainable’ – it can go on and on without causing damage