Tablas Island Rice Farming

Rice farming is done the traditional way on Tablas Island.   Plowing is done with a bullock or sometimes a rota tiller.  Seedlings are grown in one corner of the patty and transplanted at the right time to catch the rain for those hectares that depend on the rains for moisture.  Growing rice is a tedious process requiring much tending.  When we first arrived, a rice field was ploughed and the seeds were being broadcast by hand.  We have followed this field for six weeks. The seeds germinated and grew quickly reaching about 6 inches in height is one week.  Then unexpected rains came flooding the field.  This encouraged snails to eat the tender shoots.  Despite hand picking the snails, many bare patches were left when the water receded.

In sequence, the pictures:  broadcasting seed, snail picking, and spotty growth due to snails eating the young sprouts.

This picture was taken the first day we arrived on Talbas.  The farmer is hand broadcasting the seed.  We watched this field carefully over the six week period we were there.

Picking Snails After the Rain

Transplanting to fill in the gaps from snail damage.

Farmer's wife transplanting.  This is a family operated rice farm.

Dario’s father has been a rice farmer for a life time. 

Dario and his father.  Both have family rice farms.

Rice harvesting using a hand sickle.

This was the first time we had ever seen rice in anything but a bag or a box in a grocery store!

 Different varieties of rice are grown, each given a research number.  Seed is provided by government for planting.  All aspects of the rice growing and harvest are hand labour, ploughing with the bullock or rota tiller  being the only exception.

Hand sickled rice piled by field waiting for pick up.

             It is then hand threshed winnowed and bagged to be spread out each day to sun dry.

Dario’s father operates the rice mill.  Farmers bring in their unshelled rice for dehulling.  First the rice is weighed, then taken up the ladder and dumped into the rice mill. 

 Hulls are separated.  The courser material is separated from the finer hulls which are used for animal feed. 

The farmer’s rice is bagged for him to take home to feed his family or, if extra, to sell.

In order to buy land, Dario’s family often sold their rice instead of eating it themselves.  Here is a picture of Dario’s father (who operates the mill), his mother and Dario himself who grows rice as well.

Food security is assured for families by their small rice farms.  Many rice farmers also fish.  Fish is dried for monsoon season when they cannot fish, assuring a secure source of protein.