Harvest Time
My journey into the ancient town of Hoi An is always fascinating, as I leave behind the beach and the fishing community, I cross the river with the small fishing communites built along the riverside,and I am greeted by the enchanting view of the rice fields, always mesmerizing. I often stop to watch the picture postcard view of women working in the fields in their traditional conical hats. As I drove through this week, I was surprised to see the fields filled with lots more people and activity than normal with many local people stopped at the roadside to watch. Wondering what is happening, I am told that it is harvest time for the spring rice crop and from dawn to dusk you will see families working in the fields to harvest this critical crop. In rural areas of Vietnam 8 out of 10 people make a living from growing rice and with the daily diet in Vietnam so reliant on rice, (87% of the daily calorific intake comes from rice) it was time I understood more about this valuable crop and so with the help of the locals this weeks blog will give you an insight into rice production. Here in Vietnam the weather means that they are able to grow 3 crops of rice a year, the spring , summer and autumn harvests unlike many other countries in Asia where they only harvest rice once or twice a year.
A Family Affair
With so many rural families reliant on rice for their livelihood, it is interesting to understand that this really is a family endeavour. With a population imbalance still in Vietnam, there are 52% women and many households are headed by women either because they are widowed or due to migration of their husband to other areas for work.
Many of the tasks involving in growing rice are nominated for the women. Whilst men focus on the clearing of fields, ploughing, preparation of the seedbed, irrigating and
fertilizing. Women are allocated the sowing and transplanting of the seed, pest control, weeding, harvesting, processing and the final selling of the rice. Feels a little imbalanced to me and explains why in the previous months it has largely been women I have seen in the rice fields tending the crops in the heat of the day. So girls, any romantic notion you may have about owning a rice field,
beware you will be doing most of the heavy work.
Many of the tasks involving in growing rice are nominated for the women. Whilst men focus on the clearing of fields, ploughing, preparation of the seedbed, irrigating and
fertilizing. Women are allocated the sowing and transplanting of the seed, pest control, weeding, harvesting, processing and the final selling of the rice. Feels a little imbalanced to me and explains why in the previous months it has largely been women I have seen in the rice fields tending the crops in the heat of the day. So girls, any romantic notion you may have about owning a rice field,
beware you will be doing most of the heavy work.
Making a Living
Families growing rice certainly do not make huge amounts of money and this is a real community affair with the entire village or area sharing a buffalo for ploughing and all sharing the cost of the threshing or harvesting equipment or machinery. When harvested the current price of rice here in Vietnam is between 5,000 and 6,000 dong per kilo (that's around 15p-20p) but aside from this no part of the harvest is wasted, the straw left is used for cow and buffalo feed, mushroom planting, to make sandals, hats,
baskets, ropes, brooms and for roofs. The husk is used for fuel and fertilizer and any broken rice can be used for duck or chicken feed, cooked for babies or fermented for rice
wine.....literally no part is wasted.
baskets, ropes, brooms and for roofs. The husk is used for fuel and fertilizer and any broken rice can be used for duck or chicken feed, cooked for babies or fermented for rice
wine.....literally no part is wasted.
Gathering the Harvest
As I watch the harvesting from the roadside together with the locals who have brought their children to witness the harvest, it feels like nothing has changed for centuries apart from the hire of one harvest machine which moves from field to field, the cost obviously shared by community and with sun starting to fade the need to complete each field so as
not to incur another days hire cost. The rest is done manually and the harvest is gathered on what can only be described as a double ended pitchforks and carried to the roadside for transport by any means possible for the drying process to begin.
not to incur another days hire cost. The rest is done manually and the harvest is gathered on what can only be described as a double ended pitchforks and carried to the roadside for transport by any means possible for the drying process to begin.
Sun Drying the Harvest
As the harvesting is completed you can see the sheets of rice laid out to dry literally all over the town, outside of houses, the sides of the main road and even in the road with everyone carefully driving around it understanding its value to a local family. There are
mechanical ways of drying rice but the cheapest dryer costs about $300 so here in this area it certainly all seems to be sun dried in every available space. Whilst the weather here is conducive with this it can be unpredictable and I worry that if we have a storm
like last week that appeared within minutes causing a lot damage but passing in less than 45 mins their whole harvest could be lost, so I pray that the weather holds in the coming days.
mechanical ways of drying rice but the cheapest dryer costs about $300 so here in this area it certainly all seems to be sun dried in every available space. Whilst the weather here is conducive with this it can be unpredictable and I worry that if we have a storm
like last week that appeared within minutes causing a lot damage but passing in less than 45 mins their whole harvest could be lost, so I pray that the weather holds in the coming days.
Exporting the Harvest
Vietnam is now the 2nd biggest rice exporter in the world behind Thailand and topping India, China and Pakistan, it accounts for 20% of the rice traded in the world and rice production in Vietnam continues to grow each year through greater land allocation and higher yields from the crops. This is critical not just for growing their exports but to feed a growing population at home. Many of you will be surprised to learn that their biggest customer is the Philippines, which accounts for 25% of all exports and if you are visiting Hong Kong there is a 1 in 3 chance you will be eating rice grown in Vietnam maybe even my local fields.
Having witnessed the endless labour and committment that goes into this process just to make a living for your family I feel guilty as we are probably the only family in Vietnam without any rice in the house and so begins my resolultion to eat more rice.
Finally as the week progresses and the harvesting from the initial fields is completed a haze of smoke covers the road as the remaining stubble is burnt off ready to start the process all over again.
Having witnessed the endless labour and committment that goes into this process just to make a living for your family I feel guilty as we are probably the only family in Vietnam without any rice in the house and so begins my resolultion to eat more rice.
Finally as the week progresses and the harvesting from the initial fields is completed a haze of smoke covers the road as the remaining stubble is burnt off ready to start the process all over again.