Rice and shine!
Vietnam has three distinct growth seasons for rice (Kontgis et al., 2019):
- Đông xuân — Winter/Spring — Planting occurs in November and the rice is harvested in February.
- Hè thu — Summer/Autumn — Planting occurs in March and the rice is harvested in June/July.
- Mùa thu — Autumn/Winter — This is considered the main season. Planting occurs in July (can vary from May–August) and the rice is harvested in October (September–December).
The duration of a season can vary depending on the cultivar of rice planted. Which is why I am trawling through even more literature in an attempt to figure out the main rice cultivars used in the Mekong River Delta and the Red River Delta.
This is how I came upon this brilliant description of rice in Vietnam!
Rice is an integral part of life in Vietnam. Vietnam is an agricultural country with eight out of ten Vietnamese living in rural areas and making their living by growing rice. Many Vietnamese people say their country looks like two rice baskets placed at two ends of a pole.
http://www.vietnam-culture.com/articles-218-34/Rice-in-Vietnam.aspx
It’s no secret that I like to draw (note: the little rice creatures around this blog), but with the thesis occupying 99% of my brain recently I’ve been in a state of artist’s block for the past few months. But this triggered some inspiration!
I do love when I can marry my hobbies to my science 😄