Rice!

Covering over 9 million Hectares of land the rice farming industry holds a huge influence over Thailand’s economy. Being the second largest producer of rice in the world and having cultivated rice for more than 5000 years, rice is integral to Thailand its culture and the peoples way of life.

For most families in Thailand, whether they are Hill tribes from the areas outside of Chiang Mai to urbanites in the center of Bangkok Rice is the staple of their diet.

Globally there is though to be more than 140,000 different varieties of rice! In Thailand it can vary from sticky glutinous rice which is rolled, squeezed and eaten with fingers and mainly enjoyed in the north and north eastern parts of the Thailand, light and fresh white Jasmine rice eaten throughout the country which accompanies the many curries, fried vegetable and meat dishes to dark purple fibrous Riceberry varieties high in fiber and grown organically.

Tribal peoples of the north have their own high mountain rice which is different in taste and texture to the traditional Jasmine variety.

It holds sway over much of the culture although is often taken for granted by many, below is a brief outline of what it takes to grow Rice in Thailand!

Growing rice requires a lot of water and this makes Thailand a perfect place to grow rice. There is plenty of water during the monsoon season and years ago almost everyone would have been involved in the cultivation process of the rice. Rice can be grown practically anywhere, even on a steep hill or a mountain side however it does take some serious preparation!

First, the fields must be ploughed, softened, raked and flattened and this historically has required the help of water buffalo, thus cementing the water buffalo’s pace in the hearts and culture of the Thai people. It is said that to plough one hectare of paddy field in the traditional way, a farmer and his water buffalo must walk more than 80 km’s! After this the rice is sown in a “nursery” and left for a month to grow. After a month the rice plants are then transplanted to the main field.

The rice field is usually flooded with rainwater or water from a nearby river. As there is usually so much rainfall and water available in Thailand only around 20% of all rice fields in Thailand are irrigated. Young rice plants are planted by hand and kept an equal distance apart.

While the rice is growing farmers must ensure that the field has enough water and if necessary they will add fertilizer in the form of manure if growing organic rice or occasionally with special chemical fertilizer.

After a couple of months the fields are drained and the rice is ready to be harvested. Firstly the rice plants are cut and the crop is moved to another location. Harvesting can be done using machinery, but in many areas it is still carried out by hand in the traditional methods that have been used for generations. After this the rice plants are bundled together for ease of transport and dried. Then the threshing can begin, traditionally by hand and by beating the plants on the floor. This will leave only the rice seeds with husk still attached. In order to remove the husk the seeds must be milled by pounding in a wooden bowl (often a tree stump which has been hollowed out) with a large pounding stick. After the rice has been milled the seed and the husk must be separated and this is done with trays and much technique, a little like tossing a pancake in a pan, the wind separates the seed from the. After all that you will be ready to boil and enjoy your rice!

 

The bi products of the cultivation process can be put to different uses:

• • Rice straw is stacked and preserved for fodder for cattle, braided into rope, crafted into apparel, shoes, handicrafts, and toys, molded into bricks with mud, made into paper, used to make a “rice dragon” on which silk worms build their cocoons.
  • Grain is milled and cooked as rice for people to eat, fermented into wine, processed into crackers and cereals, brewed into beer, processed into feed for animals, ground into cosmetic powders
  • Bran is rendered for oil to make soap and cosmetics, added to “health foods” for fiber and nutrition.
  • Rice hulls are used as packing material to pad fragile cargo during shipping, burned for fuel in simple stoves and to generate electricity in large plants, packed around ice blocks for insulation
  • Ash from hulls is used to clean discolored teeth, and turned into cellulose products, such as rayon and rice fuel