Rice fields and haystacks

Rice is the staple food of people in the plains of Nepal. Although the land is flat, the fields are slightly terraced so that water runs from the irrigation channels through each field in turn. This ingenious system means there is no need for mechanical watering machines and the farmer can channel water into whichever field needs it at the time.

The rice harvest is just beginning here. In the background are haystacks. The rice straw is dried and kept for animal fodder and bedding (both human and animal) in the winter.