Ripening rice season in the sweltering summer sun

From the end of May to early June, rice in paddy fields ripens in Sai Son commune, Quoc Oai district, Hanoi. Farmers flock to the fields to harvest the rice under the sweltering heat of summer.

Ripening rice season in the sweltering summer sun
Ripening rice season in the sweltering summer sun

In recent years, technology in farming has been boosted, and machines have gradually replaced humans. Many types of combine harvesters have been put into operation in rice fields, contributing to helping farmers in their farm work.

The sound of the combine harvesters resounds across the golden rice fields.

Golden yellow rice grains promise a bumper crop.

According to farmers in Sai Son, the application of machinery in rice harvesting not only helps reduce their labour but also increase efficiency.

The rental price for a combine harvester is around VND150,000 per ‘sao’ (360 sq.m).

It takes a combine harvester only 12 to 15 minutes to complete a ‘sao’ of rice.

Many combine harvesters work on the rice fields at the same time during this period.

Phung Thi Huong, 59, a local farmer in in Sai Son recalls that in the past, all of her family members had to join the rice harvest, and sometimes they even had to hire other people to keep up with the schedule. But now everything has become easier thanks to agricultural mechanism.

Today, sickles are only used to cut grass and clear bushes.

Nguyen Van Tu, owner of a combine harvester, said the machine helps him earn a good income in the rice harvesting season.