By Piseth
Most people in my village are farmers. They grow rice and vegetables. Most of them grow rice once a year, but some of them twice a year. In summer, some of them grow vegetables and some others work as construction workers.
In Cambodia there are two seasons, dry and rainy seasons. They work very hard. They don’t have much free time. They plow the farm using cows and buffaloes. In the raining season they get up in the early morning and to start work. They work more than ten hours a day.
They wake up early in the morning at 5.00am to work the farm. They work from sunrise to sunset. In my village they make time to farm during both the dry season and the rainy season. Farmers in my village have two hours for meal breaks when they eat rice. In the morning at 9.30am and in the afternoon. At 6.00pm they go home to eat and sleep.
The farmer use the cows to plow.
Most of the farmers in my village use cows and buffaloes to plow their farm. However, depending on the wealth of the farmer, some in my village have a big machine to plow the fields. They are able to buy these machines from shops in the city. Most don’t as they do not have the money. The production of rice now is a contrast of development, even at my village level.
In the rainy season, the farmers plant the rice seeds and leave them to grow for about two months. They then extract the rice seedlings which are now about 20 to 30 cms high. These seedlings are then replanted in order to give them space to grow. They sow the early rice for 15 days to 20 days before they pull it out. Part of late-season rice is one month to one and half months before it is harvested. In the dry season the farmers plant other crops such as corn, morning glory, watermelon and many others.
In my village most of the farmers do not use chemicals. They only use cow and buffalo manure to fertilize. However, some of the farmers do buy chemicals to add to the soil. These farmers produce far more rice than the farmers who do not use these chemicals but the rice produced naturally tastes far better.
The farmers in my village don’t grow enough rice to sell at the market. Most of the rice is use to feed their family. So they do not get much money for all their hard work to grow the rice. Farmers don’t have a lot of money like the rich people. I think farming is very good but for me as a son of a farmer to be able to get an education will give me a better future. Thank you!!!!!
I never knew that there are two rice crops. this is very interesting. I hope the rice is growing well this year!