The Complete Rice Growing Process in Cambodia:

The process of planting rice is weather dependent.  Without rain, the paddies do not flood.  And without flooding, the rice shoots do not grow.  Rice growing therefore occurs during the wet season.  When enough rain has fallen, one small section of a field is selected.  It is firstly ploughed (p’jou-a) to furrow and turn up the soil.  After that, this same section is raked (roa-as) using a harrow.  This is a long frame with metal teeth or discs that, when dragged over a ploughed field, breaks up any large clods of earth.  Next, rice seeds are sowed (saab bprou-ah). 

After about one month, rice shoots (som naap) of about 50cm in length will have grown.  These shoots grow too close to each other to be productive, so they must be collected and replanted with a larger gap between each one.  These rice shoots are therefore carefully picked out of the ground, one by one, and tied into neat bundles called ‘gondap som naap’.

Next, the entire field is ploughed and raked.  These processes usually take a few hours depending on which of the three available techniques are used.  The traditional methods use either buffalo or cattle to pull the heavy plough, while the more modern method employs diesel-powered machines.  All three have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Diesel machines are undoubtedly the fastest, and are surprisingly cheaper than cattle.  They do however require constant maintenance, repair and expensive diesel feeding.  Also, unlike their animal competitors, they don’t have the ability to breed.

Cattle are the next fastest, but are the most expensive to buy.  Although cows can work unperturbed in hot, humid conditions, they struggle in wet and cold weather.  Finally, cattle can be bred easily and their meat fetches a decent price at the market. 

The slowest of the three is the docile buffalo.  They are also the cheapest.  Buffalo are wet and cold weather experts, but tire badly in hot conditions.  This fact alone means that most farmers choose cows over buffalo.  Because of this, buffalo are slowly vanishing from the Khmer countryside. 

Today, the use of cattle is the most common of the three methods.  However, with modern development and cheap machine prices, the ancient farming techniques could soon be replaced.

When the field has been ploughed and raked, the rice shoots (whose name now changes to ‘sraow’) are painstakingly replanted in perfectly straight lines.  Shoots in adjacent lines are lined up perfectly to ensure that every shoot has an equal space in every direction.  Depending on the type of rice being grown, the distance between shoots varies. 

One type of rice requires a distance of about 15cm between each shoot.  This rice breed matures quickly and after three months and ten days it can be harvested.  This allows farmers to harvest one particular field two or three times a year.  The drawbacks of this rice seed are that it produces lower yields, and the rice fetches a lower price at the market.  The other type of rice requires a distance of about 30cm between each shoot.  This rice breed takes six months to mature, but provides a much larger harvest.  It can also be sold for a higher price at the market.  The drawback of this rice seed is that any given field can only be harvested one time per year.

The whole harvesting process is done together in family units.  Men, women and children all chip in.  This replanting (stoung sraow) is seen as the least physically demanding part of the overall procedure and therefore it is usually done by women.  It is messy and back-breaking work.  All day long, the women trudge barefoot through rat, leech, crab and eel infested rice paddies constantly bending over.  On average it takes fifteen people, working together, one whole day to finish planting rice shoots in a 50m x 50m field.  A field with an area of 1 hectare would therefore take four days to finish. 

The weather at this time of year is erratic, but these workers brave all the elements and keep planting.  It is either humid and hot (35-40 degrees Celsius), or cold and raining (monsoon style).  Sometimes, smaller families don’t have adequate man power to complete this replanting stage, so they have to hire other locals to help.  For one full day of hard labour, the going rate is 8000 Riel (US$2).

Once the replanting of the rice shoots is finished, any excess field-water must then be drained from the paddies.  Rice plants grow best in water of a depth of about 3cm.  Because of the hot climate, any water in the paddy field naturally gets heated by the sun.  If the water level exceeds this 3cm mark, the additional heat stunts the growth of the crop.  Controlling the water levels of the fields is done using irrigation channels and a primitive water-scooping device called a ‘snaaj’. 

Although the way rice paddies are laid out seems disorganised and unplanned by western standards, the shape of the field isn’t really too important.  The only thing that matters is that each rice paddy borders an irrigation channel (tum-nub).  During times of heavy rainfall when the water level of the field rises, a small section of the wall bordering the irrigation dyke is temporarily knocked. Then using the large fulcrum powered scooper (snaaj), the excess water can easily be drained out of the field and into the irrigation channel.  When the farmers are satisfied with the new water level, they then rebuild the border wall thereby sealing the field again.  During times of hot weather or drought when the water level in the field falls, the same process is employed.  This time, however, water is drawn from the channel into the field.

Finally after months of hard work and waiting, the rice is ready to be harvested (jroad sraow).  The rice shoots are cut down using scythes (gondee-ou), and tied together in neat stacks called ‘jom nawng’.  These stacks are left to dry for two days before being transported to farmers’ homes where they are beaten to release the all-important rice grains.

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