Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Rice Planting 插秧機

Between the end of April and the mid of May, it is the rice planting season. From 29 April to 5 May, we have four national holidays. Most of rice farmers work at a office or factory and they do farm works when off in this country. Now is, therefore, the best time for planting.
The lower back of this machine has four mechanical claws. One claw pulls off 4 to 5 young plants at one time from the  tray set on the back and put them into the mud field.
Farmers sow rice in a plastic tray and grow them in a vinyl hothouse.
When young plants grow up to about 20cm, rice planting starts. Farmers take both the growth speed and the time of planting into consideration. Too short young plants are not strong enough against unexpected cold weather.
The operator just holds the steering wheel and runs the machine straight. More than 50 years ago, planting was made by the hands of many people. Many of them had suffered serious lower back pain.

 Nowadays good water irrigation supports rice cultivation.
Each field has a gate on the watercourse. I like to hear the sound of water running out vigorously.
The water carries small fish in the field. One heron has been watching into the water carefully. 
A field next has not been planted. This condition is good for a heron as fish have no place to hide.

26 comments:

  1. Well that is so nice to see how rice is sowed and why certainly plants are chosen.
    Thanks, it's informative.
    Take care.

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  2. Very interesting reportage, you can learn a lot from it, followed by great photos.
    Greetings.

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  3. Hello rtc, I love all kinds of agriculture, so these photos of rice cultivating fascinated me. Sometimes in the Northern U.S. you can find wild rice growing in watery areas. I hope you can get a chance to try American wild rice.
    --Jim

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  4. I have never seen you the rice is planned in Japan! Thank you so much for the interesting info and the great photos, my friend.

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  5. Yes, mechanization is so much better than backbreaking stoop labour!

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  6. Thank you for such an informative post and great series of photographs.
    It was also nice to see the heron.

    All the best Jan

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  7. I am so glad there is a machine to plant the rice...that would be such a hard job if you had to bend. I grew up planting the tobacco, and for several years, we had to plant by hand and eventually a machine was made that we could ride and all we had to do was sit and 'feed' the plants into the planter.


    I really enjoyed this post...

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  8. Dearest RTC,
    Thanks to Agricultural Engineering that those hand-labor days are of the past!
    Indeed, back breaking work...
    It will always remain a tricky timing for risking to set out those delicately grown and sheltered young plants.
    The climatic shock could indeed make them stagger for survival as they were brutally taken out of their 'optimum' temperature.
    Love those photos, especially of the perfectly green rice plants; looking very promising and also uniform.
    Smart herons...
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  9. Hello,

    I am glad the farmers have found an easier way to plant their rice plants. The farmers are still hard workers, they are very much appreciated. Love the heron/egret, I see they have different colored beakes. They are beautiful birds. Enjoy your day, have a great weekend ahead.

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  10. This was extremely interesting - makes you think about how others live.
    Please take care of yourself too.

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  11. This is very interesting. I have never seen rice being planted. Thanks for your visit.

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  12. What an interesting process to see. I never seen rice being planted. Thanks for sharing, have a wonderful weekend.

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  13. Thanks for sharing this info. I knew little about rice planting. We use brown rice in some of our meals. Less carboydrates in it which helps keep sugar levels in body good. Two diabetics ..no white rice. Have a safe day. Take care!

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  14. It was very interesting to learn how to plant rice. I always thought that rice grows from seeds that were sown in mud. But no, I was wrong. Fortunately, machines make this job easier. Only one farmer plants a rice field.
    Thanks for sharing roughterrain crane.

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  15. I had no idea how rice is planted. This is really quite interesting and I will even appreciate the rice I so enjoy all the more. Beautiful bird shot! Thanks for the visit to my blog!

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  16. Fascinating photos! Glad to know there are machines to do the job. Traditional paddy farming used to be a back-breaking task. Growing up, Mom used to make up eat up every single grain of rice left on our plates, reminding us of the painstaking labour that went into producing every grain!!

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  17. Such an interesting and most educational post - thank you.
    Can imagine back problems of the past when hand planting!
    I've visited rice growing areas - they are really beautiful - and your heron has picked a perfect home
    and 'dining room'.

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  18. awesome article guys
    have a nice day :)

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  19. Fortunately, today with the machines, it is much easier to plant rice. It must be a very painful task for people's backs.
    Excellent photo report.

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  20. That's so interesting. I'm always amazed at how much water goes into planting rice. The machines are something else. I love rice, especially white rice, as I never really had it growing up. I've never seen the rice plants before. What a sight to see the Herons around the area. Such an interesting and informative post. I appreciate our farmers very much.

    ~Sheri

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  21. technology makes work easier....beautiful heron...

    have a great day

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  22. I have never seen rice planting like this, so interesting! I do imagine doing it by hand would have been back breaking! Is this very close to where you live?

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  23. How interesting, I never knew anything about how rice was cultivated except that it was in the water. It must have been very unpleasant for people long ago, particularly if the weather was cold, to stand in that water all day long. And I am not surprised they got back pain.

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  24. What A Fantastic Post - Excellent Photos - Well Written For Sure - Be Well - Stay Strong

    Cheers

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  25. Gostei imenso, de ver como se procede ao plantio de arroz!
    Bem mais fácil hoje em dia, do que através dos métodos mais tradicionais...
    Mais uma partilha de excelência por aqui! Gostei muito!
    Um grande abraço!
    Ana

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