Rice harvest in full swing

Our first experience of rice, as a crop, here in Nepal was back in July when shortly after we arrived on our bus trip to Bungamati we saw the paddy’s being planted. The process of maintaining the terraces and channelling the essential water flows was largely done by men and the transplanting of seedlings was done by the women. This year the late monsoon rains caused a delayed planting time.



 

Ideal planting conditions back in July.

Since then we have seen women out in the paddy’s hand  weeding, and on occasion spreading artificial fertilizer. Spreading a highly soluble plant nutrient into water logged soil will have a dramatic ecological impact since much will be lost through leaching. Only on a couple of times have we seen crops being sprayed and then as expected it was with a knapsack sprayer.

During the monsoon hand weeding must continue.

Our first impression of the freshly cut swaths of rice, that started to appear a few weeks ago, were that whilst the crop was standing it looked both heavy and bulky. Now, cut, it didn’t look so good, but all will be revealed when the grain is finally stored.



Freshly cut rice swathed up to dry. Some surrounding
uncut crops have lodged due to the heavy late rains,
possible the overuse of fertilizer, or growing weak strawed
varieties.



Daal and beans grown on the terrace
edges remain standing whilst the
rice harvest goes on.

 

My twenty minute session of hand rice cutting, supervised by a group of amused women, showed me the many downsides of the task. I bent over, but they squat. I gripped tiny sheaves in my left hand and slowly cut with the small serrated sickle in my right. They help large hands full of stems and cut with such speed my camera recorded a blur. I cut myself, they didn’t, but manfully I worked on to complete my patch and show the mettle of the ‘bidshi maanchhe’ (foreign man) and used my flowing blood to have an impromptu first aid workshop. ‘Pressure and elevate’ but my well meant words were lost in the language divide. Cultural practises dominate the rural tasks, with women being allotted the cutting which suits their social habit, and allows time to chat and pass the time.



Hand cutting ensures not a grain is lost.



Serrated sickles made by the blacksmith in Besisahar  

 

Rice sheaves are hand bound using straw or weed grass as a tie, after the rice plants have dried in the sun for two or three days. The whole family get involved with carrying the sheaves to a central point where the soil has been smeared flat and allowed to dry. This land preparation allows any rice that falls from the straw to be swept without soil contamination. A stack or ‘rick’ is built and left until the whole extended family, and others, are ready to complete the thrashing process.




Mud is smeared over the thrashing area
and allowed to dry.



Tying a sheath Nepali style. With daytime temperatures of
26c the autumn has set in and workers dress up!!



Sheaf's are carried to a central place where
the stack is to be built
 



Each stack or rick belongs to a different family, who will combine
their efforts for thrashing.

 



A team effort.



Thrashing, done by the men, reveals average yields that must last
for 12 months

Eighteen people were involved with saving the grain from the small stack we photographed. Each sheave taking 6 thrashes to remove the rice, before the pile of grain was winnowed using ‘nanglo’, (round flat trays made from split bamboo) to remove any shards of straw. Whilst this is ongoing everyone else is dealing with the straw which must be stored for use with stock, making shoes, thatching roofs and a host of other ways. Large round bales are bound together with long ropes again fashioned from straw.



Winnowing



Always time for a smile

 

‘Harvest Home’ is the final part when straw and rice are carried to the steading. The homeward journey for this group was a climb up to the village 500m elevation above the terraces. Each journey taking an hour and a climb of 1400 steps.  Rice grain is traditionally stored in a circular woven container, again fashioned from bamboo strips. The straw will be stored outside in a tall unthatched rick which will shed the few winter showers, and be used by the next monsoon.






Straw ropes made in the field, bind the round the straw
 into round bales.

 

Straw is carried home

 

 

Rice straw above cattle

 

 

 



Rice is carried home



No shortcuts here, but the whole family
get involved.

The sub-tropical climate will support up to three crops per year, so where possible the ox ploughs are at work preparing for the next crop of beans, mustard, potatoes or wheat. And so the seasons roll on




A pair of 'goru' are skilfully used to shallow plough a paddy.

Making a rice store out of split bamboo. Cane grows naturally in large clumps throughout the district and is used for scaffolding, fencing, swings and a host of other applications. When split it forms the material from which the ever present baskets are made. Strips are woven into a mat which when rolled and stood on end forms a storage cylinder for the brown, unmilled whole rice. Nothing wasted, this man uses new material and some left over from an old store.