Growing rice and other crops
Have you ever wondered how exactly the Chinese grow their crops? Well, much of it is done on very local scales. Here are some pictures of agriculture around this village. We begin with rice and then move to some vegetables.
Nanjing is near the upper end of China's rice country, which peters out north of the Yangtze. The first thing we noticed around this village was how much rice was grown right on top of the village, so to speak. This view shows how close the rice paddies come to the buildings and the roads. When you have 1.6 billion people to feed, every square foot counts.
Here the villagers are setting out the rice plants into several paddies that have been previously flooded and prepared. It's backbreaking work indeed. In the nearest field, you can see that the worker is nearly finished. In the next field, see how the worker is planting the stalks by separating them from bundles and pushing each one down into the mud. In the last field, you can see that the workers are just beginning—most of the plants are still in bundles.
A closer view of a paddy after the plants have been inserted.
Rice paddies are not very attractive places. By the time the workers have tramped over them enough to insert all the plants, there are shoe marks everywhere.
Here is a paddy in a later stage of growth. The stalks have straightened and grown considerably. Note how the water is being drained out at the bottom of the picture.
Corn and cucumbers being grown is a tiny plot.
More vegetables on the other side of the pond.
Not many pickins for this little goat. Behind him are pole beans and leafy vegetables.