Starting Out...
The Lifecycle of Rice...
I also wanted to document how rice is produced. The timetable varies depending on geographic conditions like hydrology and climate. In some places like the Mekong Delta farmers can squeeze out three harvests per year, but here in Sungai Penuh the cycle is 6 months, so two harvests per year. After two harvests the farmers let the land rest for 1 month, so in 13 months they get one harvest. There are several stages to the process, which you can see in the pictures below.
The first stage is to plant the seeds. Farmers generally start the seeds in a corner of one of their pirings, planted very close together. The seeds grow here for 2-3 weeks and then they are transplanted to where they will grow until it is time for harvest. I really like thse "nursery" plots because of the deep green color. The farmers do this so that they are only planting good seeds; after two weeks of growth they know which ones are going to grow and which ones aren't.
When it is almost time to transplant the young seedlings the farmer will flood the dry paddy so that the soil, which is about a meter deep, gets saturated. Then the farmer will till the mud, turning it over to get it ready for planting. Locally this process is called bajak. Some people use a hand tractor for this stage, others use buffalos. The lady in the picture is doing the job herself.
After the paddy is bajaked the rice is transplanted. The rice will grow until it's ready to harvest, 5-6 months later. In the interim the farmer chases off crop pests and sometimes sprays pesticide and applies fertilizer. Eventually when the grains appear and the rice turns yellow it's ready to harvest. The picture above is rice at about 3 months, the picture below is ready to harvest.
After the rice is harvested the chaf (jerami) is burned and the plot is left fallow for a bit. Rice is sold on the market or saved for household use; in the picture in the next paragraph you can see a traditional rice storage shed (lubung padi), but I don't know how frequently these are used these days.
Heading Home...
As it turns out it's harder to navigate amidst thousands of acres of rice paddies than you might imagine. The plots are for the most part small, averaging I'd say about 30x10 feet, and they are divided by small bunds made of mud. The bunds are in varying states of repair or lack thereof, and so sometimes your route is determined by the condition of the bund. Moreover, they tend to change direction, and so it's hard to go in a straight line for an extended distance. So along the way I resigned myself to go in whichever direction the wind blew, or more accurately, whichever way the bunds lay. We ended up going from one village to another and then another, making a big loop. We arrived back in my "village" about 4 hours after we started. By this time I was quite hungry and thirsty, so I went back to my shack where I could enjoy some nice warm water and a couple of packages of condensed milk (the backbone of my Ramadan diet) and bathe with the last gallon or so of water I had from my thrice-weekly collection from the distribution point down the street (3). I'm glad we got back when we did, because shortly thereafter a storm rolled in and the sky opened up in a way I've rarely seen here. The downpour was so freakish that there was actually hail; a friend told me she's been living here for 17 years and has never seen hail. The power predictably went off, and I was a little apprehensive because we were experiencing all the signs of tornado weather, and there's no where to hide here. But eventually the storm passed, and I was able to collect about 15 gallons of water within approximately 20 minutes.
It was a nice day. I had fun with the kids, and learned a good bit about the specifics of rice production here in the Valley.
Notes
(1) There are a lot of "major rice producing regions" in Indonesia
(2) Majapahit was a powerful kingdom based on Java that gave rise to several notable personages that would become national heroes.
(3) As when I began my fieldwork odyssey, there has been no water in my shack for about two weeks running.
I find it really interesting that something as simple as rice, that we here in Hawaii take for granted, takes so many hours of labor and patience. I was quite interested in this article because i have always wondered how rice was grown and cultivated. Rice is definitely more than a starchy food, its a way of life for some people, being that the art of its cultivation has been passed down for many years.
ReplyDeleteLearning about rice production in Indonesia from actual rice farmers is the best way to get true facts on the manufacture itself. It must have been exciting to explore the culture and to learn about one of the most common food sources used in Indonesia and Hawaii. I observed the photos that were included with the blog and although the sun seemed to be gently beaming through each photograph I noticed some clouds roaming about in the distance. You mentioned a storm (almost tornado like) occurring once you settled back into your village however, did you notice anything strange with the weather before you headed away from the rice paddies? Does having a hail storm ruin the rice production in that location or was the rain considered as a blessing for the farm? Because the weather is very important when it comes to farming, I wondered if the hail storm had any positive or negative effects to the rice and its growth.
ReplyDeleteHi Cherry. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. It looked like it might rain i the afternoon, but that's now out of the ordinary. I think the hail probably isn't to good for the rice, but it only happens a couple of times over 20 years, so it probably isn't really that big a deal.
DeleteIf the area that you said is a major rice producing region, would another place in the same geographic zone(tropics) make it a successful place to grow rice also because of the amount of solar energy received in this zone is similar?
ReplyDeleteI've actually witnessed rice cultivation last year in the Philippines. The process/stage mentioned above wasn't any different from my past observations. However, my neighbors in the Philippines planted the rice near the river banks. This was during the month of October, so the climate was humid, which was a the best climate to grow rice.
ReplyDeleteReading this blog is like traveling in person with the writer. It brings smile to my face about how innocent life is in this farming village in Indonesia. Where in the United States or the Western World can you trust a bunch of kids following a stranger? It was very informative and interesting to learn about how others live their everyday lifes; very intensive hard labors but just accept it as part of their normal daily life. Rice is an essential in my daily meals which I usually take it for granted. Now after reading this, every single bite will remind me of how, what, people went through just for me to enjoy my rice. I want to thank all rice farmers for making it possible for me.
ReplyDeleteHi there anonymous. I am not sure if I understand your question correctly about growing rice other places....the relatively constant and high levels of insolation in the tropics are good for rice, but you also have to have a lot of water, so even though a place is tropical, it doesn't mean that rice will grow there. There are tropical deserts that don't get much rain. Also the quality of soil would be an important variable.
ReplyDeleteFrom reading this entry and previous entries pertaining to farmers and their farmland, I began to wonder what other crops would be able to grow in Indonesia. From the pictures you posted of the rice fields and surrounding environment, Indonesia’s land looks healthy, lush, and green. Besides rice, potatoes, and coffee, are there other crops that farmers in Indonesia cultivate? If there are other crops that will take to the land, why are the people in Sungai Penuh choosing to farm only rice? Although it looks rewarding, it seems very time consuming and physically demanding (especially for those who chose to do the bajak process themselves.) Would other crops be “easier” to grow, or do the geographic conditions in Sungai Penuh only allow for rich rice production?
ReplyDeleteDespite the physically demanding labor of rice farming, the farmers and the children living in the area still seem very happy, friendly, and prideful. It would be nice if more people today could adopt their positive attitudes.
This entry is really interesting. I LOVE RICE! lol so it was really cool that you got the opportunity to see first hand, the long process of cultivation and harvest that actually takes place. I think the thing that was most intriguing to me about this entry was when you said that after all that hard work, the workers only collect about $11/day from their rice sales. It definitely shows how fortunate we are to live the lifestyle that we do here in Hawaii and the US in genearl. I admire your adventurous persona to do such a long walk just to observe and learn more about the "rice life." Very interesting and informational!
ReplyDeleteI eat rice everyday but I never wonder how rices are harvest. Your blog explains it all and is really interesting. I actually seen rice field in china on the country side. The farmers use buffalo to help the planting. Yes, harvesting rice is a lot of hard work. My parents don’t like me to leave one piece of rice on the bowl. We are lucky to have rice to eat because of these farmers. Does Hawaii have rice fields in any of the island? Reading your blog, if makes me feel like I’m there and I could imagine basic on your pictures. So far I love reading your blogs. It is a lot of information.
ReplyDeleteHi there Anonymous. As far as I know there is no rice grown in Hawai'i.
DeleteIt's really cool to see rice cultivated in the same way that is has been for the past hundreds of years. Just by the way you explain the process of rice cultivation, I couldn't imagine doing this for a living; it's hard work! As someone who takes care of a nursery, I want to know, do these farmers harvest anything other than rice? Is rice such a demanded item and staple that it is not necessary for the production of other items?
ReplyDeleteHi. It depends on the place, but across Sumatra farmers that have wet rice often have another plot of land up in the hills where they grow tree crops, like rubber, cinnamon, coffee, or something else, or they may have cabbage, red chili peppers, or potatoes. It depends on the local conditions. In most places I visited, the rice is generally for household production while the produce of the upland plots (called "ladang") is to sell. But in some places (like the farmers in this post) the rice is sold as well.
DeleteI’m Chinese; rice is our Chinese meal the main starch, so I almost eat rice for every day, but I don’t know how the rice is produced. The only thing I knew is the rice is produced twice a year if they have good wealth, but what they doing for grew the rich that I do not know at all. In this article, it does tell us how the rice be produce. Only one thing I feel disappoint is it don’t tell us what kind of wealth which Sungai Penuh has to help to produce the rice.
ReplyDeleteIt's always really interesting learning about how common house hold foods are grown and cultivated. I never realized the time and patience it took to grow the rice. I love rice so much, whether it white rice or fried, or in my soups, it is always such a satisfying thing to eat. Its amazing how much time these farmers take to grow this crop, I don't think I would ever be able to do it myself. Kudos to these farmers and thank you.
ReplyDeleteVery funny title! Reading this blog entry reminded me of a book I read over the summer. The book I was reading was about successful people/groups and how they became successful. One chapter talked about rice paddies in China. The Chinese farmers would spend long days in the field nurturing these rice paddies and harvesting them by hand. It compared these farmers to western farmers. Although western farmers have the technology and equipment to harvest their farms, farmers in Asia are the ones who are really getting the most benefit. By this I mean that by spending time to work first-hand on these paddies, Asian farmers have better predictions of when to harvest their rice, what time of the year to plant the seeds, and what not because they spend a lot of time with it. I just wanted to share that. I’m not surprised that Indonesian farmers are similar to the Chinese farmers I read about.
ReplyDeleteThis article is very interesting. I didn't think that harvesting rice took so much work. We eat rice all the time, yet we don't usually think about it taking 6 months to grow. I also find it interesting the way the land is divided. The plots of land aren't all the same size. Do the smaller size plots of land make enough money to support themselves throughout the year? How does it compare to the larger land plot?
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this article, I have wondered for a while how rice is actually grown and produced. Like the other blog entries I was astonished at how much hard work actually goes into producing this staple of starchy goodness that we in the United States take for granted and eat on a regular basis not even wondering were it comes from, or the process in which it's produced. Just learning about how much they make from one harvest alone really taught me to value this food with much more respect. These people truly work hard for what they earn and am deeply touched by this article. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to see that after 100 years or so, we still growing and harvesting our food the way our ancestry did. Especially hand harvesting rice. Many times we have not appreciating the work and effort put into growing our food. Hats off to hard working farmers like those in Sungai Penuh. I didn't know that in some parts of the world farmers can have up to three rice harvest per year.
ReplyDeleteLooks like your little company was a highlight of this "rice adventure".
hi there, my name is ryan i find it kind of interesting that the time it takes for the farmers to grow the rice. then when it is time to harvest it they get liitle amounts of money. i mean you say they average 11 dollars a day. so some would think they have more then one or two fields. if they didn't they would be struggling nonetheless is that right. i mean i know indonesia is a third world country but they would need alot of families to have sufficient amounts of crops or sections of plant life to survive right.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting article. I've seen documentary about cultivating rice before but not one from Indonesia. It's amazing to me how they work for a standard wage for 5,000 rupiah which is only a little more than 50 cents in US currency. It makes me think about how, here in Hawaii, minimum wage is 7.25US per HOUR and they work a much harder and longer time just to make a LOT less than what we make. What's curious to me as you mentioned in the article about the kids being from the "city" is how many of the kids or farmers have actually seen the real "city"? The lifestyle seems very tiring but soothing at the same time as you described, I wouldn't mind going for a visit at all especially with the locals there so friendly.
ReplyDeletei love this blog. i mean i am not a rice eater but living here in hawaii rice is the main source of food. i always was interested in the way it is culitvated or cropped. this is new to me cause i would of thought rice would have taken no les then 3 mopnths to plant, seed and grow. what gets me is do these farmers have many other plots of rice or gardens. how many plots do a normal family own when it comes to rice patches. the other patches they may own you said they can have trees what kind of food can they make fromt hese trees and what are the price difference. as $11.00 a day for some rice patches is nopt that much with all the work they put in. I will say this about the indonesian farmers they are really hard workers and it shows in the work and plant life. we as americans need to take in their way of life and stop focusing on electronics
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, what caught my attention was the title. I thought it was funny and I was eager to know what it was about. This was a very interesting and exciting adventure you had. I could see myself doing the same because I love learning about the environment of which i am in or an environment which is new to me. You mentioned that Indonesia is one of the "major rice producing regions" and that is true. Does that mean it is produced the same way as the other places in Indonesia? Particularly in Japan or as I like to call it the "origin of rice", if that's even true. I always thought that Japan was the first to produce rice. If not, I wonder where? The information you've provided based on your experience are well appreciated and very good. Having a good time and gaining knowledge from new things sounds like fun, or well at least you made it sound like it which i think is a better and faster way to learn new things.
ReplyDeleteHearing about how the local dependency and involvement in rice production reminds me of my family during parents’ generation in Hawaii all working in the Dole Canary together and how the community, to a large extent, depended on its production. You mentioned how some farmers use fertilizers and pesticides in their rice production. How confident are you, from your first-hand experiences in the process, of the average workers’ knowledge of the effects / hazards of these chemicals with regards to the environment as well as their personal health? Great title by the way!
ReplyDeleteHi Mat. That's an excellent question. Though my research doesn't really focus on pesticides and farmers, so I can't give you anything other than my impressions (which aren't backed up by numbers, surveys, etc). I would say based on this that the level of awareness as to health effects is VERY LOW.
DeleteI eat rice everyday and I knew rice comes from like Asia, and from the countryside. I can't believe they do all that just for the rice. I am so thankful now for those people who are cultivating rice and selling it to us. One of the things that I most liked about your history is that the pictures you have are yours, meaning that you din't take them from a documental, so it's more amazing to see how those people are living their normal life and how nice is that they explain you the way they are cultivating the rice.
ReplyDeleteSo there are three harvests per year? because when I went to Asia they eat rice like every single day and in every meal, so when the rice is ready to pick up, there might be a lot rice correct?
Being an avid rice eater myself I surprised myself with how little I actually knew about rice production while reading this article. After reading your article I feel much better about my ability to explain where rice comes from and how it is made. I wonder though, with the crazy weather you spoke about including hail, rain, wind, etc, how much does this impact the rice production? Indonesia grows an abundance of rice but is this because it is a necessity and so it must be done?...or does Indonesia hold something special in it's geography that allows the rice to grow so nicely?
ReplyDeleteKatherine that's a good question. I know that hail can be damaging to crops, but again, this freak storm was really rare where I was doing my fieldwork (only once every few years), so I don't know how big of a hazard it is. It likely depends where the rice is in the cultivation cycle. Even among the fields of one village they do a good job of staggering the plantings and harvests, so even if it was damaging the effect wouldn't be too catastrophic. I think they worry more about droughts and pests.
DeleteThe rice grows well because Indonesia is right on the equator and has high levels of insolation all year round and pretty consistent day lengths. Also the soils in Indonesia are pretty good because they are volcanic in origin. Moreover, there is ample rain most of the time. And they use a lot of fertilizer too. So the geography is conducive.
My family is military so I've traveled extensively and the most common rice exports I've seen are from Japan and Thailand. How much rice is exported versus the amount kept in Indonesia? If it is exported, what countries is the rice exported to? Is Indonesian rice a profit producing commodity?
ReplyDeleteThe population of Indonesia is really high, so the primary concern is food security and meeting internal needs first. The export of rice is usually something of a contentious issue there. But in some years past they have exported rice to other countries in East and Southeast Asia.
DeleteHi, I really enjoy reading your blog, it is very interesting. I love your pictures, from your pictures I can see that the rice field is huge; the farmers must worked really to planting the rice. I believe that farmer is not an easy job, they must work really hard. But working for one day, they only make $11, I feel bad for them (8 hours per day?). It is great to know the rice production. Thank you for sharing. Will you plant some rice in the future and share your rice production experience with us?
ReplyDeleteHeheheh thanks for the nice words and that's an interesting idea. I will give it some thought next time I am in the field. As for the $11, that's a pretty good day's work in Indonesia. That money goes a long way.
DeleteWow that is some really cheap rice, but too bad the farmers don’t earn more especially with all the effort and care they take into planting, watching over, and harvesting. Did the storm affect the rice patties, like did it overflow or drown the rice plant? I assume that rice can only handle a certain amount of water per rice patty. Also do they plant other crops to help replenish the nutrient levels of the soil between planting and harvesting season per plot of land, I know other places do this like the plains of the continental United States. In addition, I assume they use irrigation systems from the rice patties do they have a continuous flow or do they just put a certain amount in and leave it to grow and just come back to plant new rice and spray pesticides/ fertilizer. Does this affect the sedimentary nutrients in the Mekong delta as rice is a key crop for the Sumatran’s? Also how does the climate and water affect the rice’s ability to mature to be harvested? How do they know if the crop is going to grow or not could you elaborate? This blog is really interesting and an eye opener to the determination and dedication the farmers have toward their crop to even prepare for planting by hand as you picture shows with the woman, it also shows about how big the patty is. Your photos remind me of the water crest farms here in Hawaii as they have fields of water crest with an irrigation system and natural predators roaming the field eating anything that may affect the crop, is it like that as well in Indonesia?
ReplyDeleteHi there. The rice fields have pretty good drainage as part of the irrigation system, but if there is too much rain it can cause problems. But again they have staggered planting cycles which helps to minimize disruptions. As for the Mekong, it flows from China through Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam on mainland Southeast Asia. Sumatra is an island that isn't attached to the continent. The knowledge about whether the crop is going to grow...they are farmers and know how to grow rice.
DeleteHello, My name is Alana and I just wanted to clarify the process in which the local farmers produce their rice which they later harvest and sell.
ReplyDeleteThe blog post in which I read was called “Oh no not rice again!”. It discussed how rice is produced by the local farmers. I would like to clarify the rice making process. My comprehension of it is as follows: In the first stage of rice production, the local farmer plant the rice seeds. The place where they are planted is just the waiting spot. The farmers will plant the seeds here and leave them for only 2-3 weeks before moving them to the place they intend to keep them till they are ready to be harvested. The reason for this is so after the 2 weeks are up, they can make note of which ones are actually growing and dispose of the ones that are not. Next, when it is time for the plants to be transferred the farmer will flood the intended paddy field that is originally dry, and turn the mud and make it wet and soft for the seeds to be planted into. Next the rice is planted and will stay there for 5-6 months until it is ready to be harvested. Lastly the rice is harvested and then sold for a profit. My question is simple, I just wanted to know if the rice that is locally produced here is the main source of food for the local people? I have never been to this part of the world and I find the rice production truly fascinating.
Hi Alana. That's pretty much how it works but it doesn't take 5-6 months, I think it's more like 4-5 months total. Whether the rice is eaten locally or sold depends on the locality. I think here they eat some of it and then sell some of it, but in some places they sell most of it for cash income.
DeleteBeing Asian, rice is part of every meal I eat throughout the day. So, after reading about how little they get paid in US dollars to harvest and sell the rice, makes it more appreciative to have such a big part of my meal in my everyday diet. It saddens me to know that they do so much work for such little pay. Do you know if the farmers do anything else besides harvesting rice for a living?
ReplyDeleteYeah in Sungai Penuh most people have a job in addition to the rice fields. They work for the government or have shops.
DeleteHi, as I am a Japanese myself, I have experienced rice farming several times but never seen a woman makes the Mud, turning it over to get it ready for planning (bajak). In japan we use the machine to do all the work now days. However, one thing I was wondering is that, is there any other way than chasing off crop pests by spraying pesticide and applies fertilizer? Because so farmers in Japan try to avoid use the pesticide so they raise some teals in their rice field to make the teals eat the bugs and crop pests. It is very natural and a lot of people in japan prefer to eat those rice that are naturally farmed.
ReplyDeleteThat's a pretty good idea but the organic craze hasn't hit Indonesia yet and most farmers are all about maximizing yields. There was a long period where the government supported the use of fertilizers and pesticides to get the yields up, and if I'm not mistaken there are still subsidies for fertilizer.
DeleteIt seems rice agriculture is famous in Indonesia from your blog.
ReplyDeleteBut I heard that potato agriculture is famous in Indonesia, too.
Which food is staple food in Indonesia, rice or potato?
Hi Yasuho. Rice is by far the most commonly consumed staple in Indonesia.
DeleteReading this post reminded me of the Philippines farm land because my mom is a farmer her whole life. Before she moved to Hawaii she would harvest rice and other things.
ReplyDelete