Greetings!
Hi to all agricultural folks! In this blog, I am excited to share with the community another job that a farmer like me always does during rice farming season. During the farming season, the rice crops needed to be fertilized three times. Each of the three fertilization stages requires a schedule. It is much better if the rice farm that is going to be fertilized does have water in it so that the fertilizer will be quickly dissolved and absorbed by the rice crops as fast as possible. The water does not need to be deep, any amount of water that you could see on top of the soil would do.
With that being said, the job that I did this morning is I dug a couple of narrow openings on the small dams that are separating each section of our rice farm. But before I dug I first checked each section of our rice farm that doesn't have water in it. And when I saw that I have to reduce or add water to a section of our rice farm I dug a small opening in the dam that will let water flow from an adjacent section with water to another section.
Like I previously said, any amount of water on top of the soil would do. Less than an inch of water is already deep (see photo below).
In the photo below, the water is barely noticeable, but the soil is obviously very wet, so this is also okay.
Digging Narrow Openings
Upon initially checking, I noticed that the two sections that I checked almost have an inch deep of water so I decided to reduce the amount of water. Using a shovel I dug up the first narrow opening that will let water flow from one section to another (see the gif image below).
And here it is, the first narrow opening that I dug (see the gif image below). I actually do not know the exact term for it or what it is called, is it a canal? A crevice? A crevasse? Please let me know in the comment. By the way, in the video that I recorded, I repeatedly called it crevice/crevasse, I just realized now while I am writing this blog that I used the wrong term. Please forgive me.
And here is the second narrow opening that I dug, I did not dig deep enough because if I do the water will be emptied (which is not good). After I dug the second narrow opening, I continued checking the remaining sections of our rice farm and I found out that they have water in them so I only dug two narrow openings this morning. Usually, the narrow openings that a farmer dug will also be closed using the same soil that was dug when it is not needed anymore. The narrow opening will be tweaked once in a while as needed if the section needs more water or the water needs to be reduced, or the water needed to be transferred from an adjacent section to another.
And here is the video that I recorded while I am doing the job. Please forgive me because I used the wrong terms crevice and crevasse in describing the narrow openings that I dug.
The Clothes that I Wore in Doing the Job
By the way guys, here's a look at what kind of clothes I always wear whenever I go out checking our rice farm. In the photo below I can be seen wearing a hat, a long sleeve, and a head wrap (similar to what motorcycle riders wear).
I also wear rain boots to protect my legs and feet from mud and most importantly from snakes. By the way, I mentioned in the video that recorded snakes, I said that there is a lot of snake in our town but that is an exaggeration. There are snakes but not a lot, a person here in our town is lucky enough to see a single snake in a year.
Also, whenever I go checking our rice farm I am taking with me this shovel in case I needed it.
That is all for now guys, catch you up with the next rice farming blog. Wishing you all safety, good health, and abundance.
