Wet rice in the highlands

A farmer and young buffalo walk on earthen dikes that contain the standing water needed by wet rice plants during certain stages of their growth. (Learn more)

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This photograph, and most of the photos that follow, was taken in Mai Chau, in the highlands of northwestern Vietnam. In most of Southeast Asia, the highlands are too dry or steep to construct the standing water pools required to nourish wet rice. Therefore, most Southeast Asian highlanders plant a different rice variety called dry rice, which can grow on hillsides only fed by seasonal rains.

In addition to containing the standing water, the dikes shown here also provide dry paths through the fields for farmers and livestock.

Learn more about Mai Chau, Vietnam, buffalo, dry rice, ethnic minorities, farming, highlands, paddies, rural life, and wet rice.

Definitions

dike n.
An artificial earthen wall, constructed as a defence or as a boundary.

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