Tag: Rice
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THE ‘YOU NEVER KNOW’ RICE
A rice variety developed in China in 2008, stored in international genebanks, has emerged as a top-performing crop in Pakistan. After years of preservation and testing, this resilient strain—now called NARC-RICE-1—demonstrates the vital role of seed conservation in ensuring future food security.
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PRESERVING MALAN IN CENTRAL KALIMANTAN
Papa Dewi told me about his way of ‘malan’. That means farming in his native Ngaju Dayak language of Central Kalimantan in Borneo, Indonesia. And it’s based on planting seeds according to local wisdom and ancestral customs. Those seeds are inseparable from the Dayak way of life. But the malan traditions are disappearing as traditional lands are now being planted to palm oil plantations or destroyed through gold mining or limited by government regulations. When farmers are able to farm, they often don’t have access to enough quality seed at the…
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IRON-TOLERANT RICE FOR LIBERIA
There are two types of rice. I’m not talking of basmati and jasmine and brown rice. There are two species of rice. The one most of us eat is Asian rice. The other is African rice. They’re both rice, but quite different genetically. In West Africa they plant both, but the African is the local. African rice has a slightly nuttier taste than Asian rice. West Africans eat a lot of rice and prepare a dish called jollof rice, which became my food of choice whenever we ate out. In the…
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PLANTING RICE IN STRAIGHT ROWS IN SIERRA LEONE
Most farmers in Sierra Leone plant their rice by broadcasting seed randomly into a paddy. They can plant a paddy pretty quickly that way, but they aren’t rewarded with great yields. Scientists at the Rokupt Research Centre have taught members of a cooperative near Kambia how to plant in straight lines. They first grow out the seeds in a nursery where they can monitor germination. Then they take the seedlings to the paddy. Using a knotted rope to indicate distance they first mark out the sides. Then they pull the rope…
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A DAY IN THE RICE PADDIES OF CAO PHONG
Timing is so important in photography. And I seem to get it wrong so often. I stayed an extra day in Vietnam so I could see rice being harvested in terraced paddies. But it soon appeared that my timing was wrong. Turns out most of the rice in northern Vietnam had already been harvested. Nothing left but stubble. But our host, Vietnam’s National Genebank Director Dr Toan, said his sister-in-law had a homestay near the upland rice fields in the Cao Phong District near Hoa Binh – about two hours from…
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