Rice - Oryza Sativa / Comments

Jerry,
You never fail to impress me with your photography and choice of subject matter. This is a fascinating group of images and an extremenly interesting subject. The relationship between people and food and technology and history. I would fave all the pics but I think I would just rather leave this note. Also thanks for the commentary, very informative and ties it all together. Great colors, composition and selection.

Thank you Larry, one of the main key to all these is WATER and this was in the news today ...

... Unfortunately, the government did not mention what it planned to do to improve the irrigation system, even though water supply is the most essential element in the success of crops. Some Thai farmers are affected by drought from February to May each year, and their problems often makes headlines. Drought can also be exacerbated by inefficient water management, and this can have a severe impact on farmers' water consumption. Thailand, sadly, has not placed much emphasis on efficient water management. We still tend to depend on the most uncontrollable factor: rainfall.

Drought can pose a severe risk to the entire economy. The Bank of Thailand yesterday released the latest inflation figures, rising from 2.8 per cent to 4-5 per cent. A short supply of farm produce is a main reason.

This year, it is estimated that more than 10 million people in Thailand's "rice bowl" have been hit by drought. The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported 55 out of 76 provinces were struggling with drought, mostly in the Central, North and Northeast. More than 151,000 rai of farmland has been affected, including half of the key Central rice-growing provinces.

Each government talks about its plans to improve the water-irrigation system, but no plan has ever actually materialised. This is because a long-term irrigation project does not offer short-term political gain, because it requires years for the results to be realised. Some villages face annual droughts and are dubbed "chronic drought-affected villages". Thus, the villagers are forced to wait desperately for money handouts (vote buyings) from politicians. Many of the younger generation have decided to leave their farms to find jobs in the cities; they feel too insecure to continue on the land, because of the unpredictable nature of the weather year in year out.

Therefore, it is imperative for the government to come up with an efficient water-management strategy as well as an effective irrigation system nationwide, along with efficient plans to supervise and monitor the effectiveness of the system. Otherwise, each year we will hear the same old story of people suffering from a lack of water. Instead of babbling about uncontrollable external factors like oil prices, the government should instead focus on water management, which is something it could tackle here at home.

www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/04/23/opinion/opinion_30071323.php