Nanku Rice Cultivation

We are over here at 41, Kadapagandi Tanda in Janagam. It’s mostly just us working in the fields every day. Rice is what we know. You spend a lot of time looking at the sky wondering if it’s going to rain when it should. When the season starts, we are out there in the mud for hours. It gets under your fingernails and stays there. The sun is hot in Janagam but you just wear a hat and keep moving. We plant the seeds and then wait. It’s a lot of waiting and watching the water levels. If the water isn't right, the whole crop can go bad. My father taught me how to tell when the soil is ready. We don't use a lot of fancy talk here. We just work the land and hope for a decent harvest at the end of it. The tractor breaks down sometimes and we have to fix it ourselves with whatever tools are lying around. It’s noisy and dusty during the harvest time but that’s the best part because you see the results. We eat what we grow and sell the rest to the local market. It’s not an easy way to make a living but it’s what we do. Our hands are rough and we are always tired, but seeing the green fields makes it okay. We aren't some big industry, just folks farming the land like we always have for generations.