Fields of young paddy seen along Highway 32
The drive along Highway 32 (also referred to as Route 32, or in Vietnamese,, Quốc Lộ 32) has diverse pleasures, but if the photographer had to pick one, it would be witnessing the cycle of paddy production. Previous pages have shown the watered terracing and fields in which the rice grain will be planted. This page offers some photographs of the final preparation of the ground: the ploughing, and the lifting of seedings. And the next page brings photographs of the planting, and the rich prospect of the growing plants.
Ploughing takes place in the already immersed fields
For buffalo the mud and water are probably just fine....
...whether people would choose to spend days wading through mud if there were reasonable alternatives...
...seems less certain - at least the mud is not cold. Elsewhere
machines
are increasingly seen
For the visitor, of course, the sight is fascinating!
The start date for such ploughing, along Route 32, varies from year to year. In this photo ploughing was taking place in early March, whereas the film clip was made in late January
Neighbouring fields usually belong to different families, so such sights as these probably indicate two families...
...working alongside one another. You can almost hear the sucking noise of the mud as feet are lifted from it
The prospect of fields at planting time in early spring. The dots scattered across this quietly busy scene are people planting rice seedlings
These photos show a set of nursery beds. Traditionally rice seed is sown in such areas and then transplanted out into the open fields in the early spring
These five photos show a woman at work lifting bunches of seedlings and putting them into her basket to be carried out to the fields
'Traditionally' as some, maybe mostly younger people, now plant the rice seeds directly to where they will grow, so eliminating the hard work of...
...transplanting. By some this is seen as lazy, and the poorer starting conditions do delay the ripening of the paddy by a couple of weeks
There is no particular role division to the parts of the work...
...although the approach to the task may vary
A summary of the work of planting, mud...
...and back breaking bending all day
Another summary: an idyllic landscape of bamboos and paddy fields
Trailers...
Now the fields are ready and the seedlings can be planted out - so
to the next page:
the planting of the paddy
The next page
of the Mosaic Section is to be headed 'Memory'.
Or go to the contents Go to the contents of the Mosaic Section. of the Mosaic Section.
The last page had photos of people walking between these paddy fields
...guide to this site