Farming in Vietnam
Lots of people in Vietnam are farmers, 70%!!!!!!!!!! That is why farming is so important in Vietnam.
One of the major crops grown in Vietnam is rice. This is how it grows . . . It takes about one month after planting for the rice to grow. While it grows the farmer prepares fields and builds low dikes around the fields. All day, the family hauls water to flood the field without rice. When the plants are big enough they are moved from the dry field into the wet, flooded field. While it grows the farmers weed and flood the fields. Soon the rice will become tall and green.
When the rice is golden it is time to harvest it. They drain the dikes. Then they cut with a carved knife. They bundle the stalks and let them dry. Farmers then beat out the rice from the plant on a bamboo pole. This is called threshing. If they live near a highway they will take the rice and spread it on the road to dry instead of in a bundle. This way it dries faster. When cars run over the rice it helps with the threshing.
After it dries farmers will collect the rice, put it in baskets and pound it. This is called milling. This separates the grain from its shell cover. Finally they throw the rice into the air so the wind takes the light shells of grain. After, the shells are fed to the farm animals and the stalks are woven into mats. Last they ship the rice to other countries.
Next time you eat rice think about how hard the farmers had to work to get that rice.