Rajitha Rice Cutivation

We are located at 5-128/1 in Harijanawada, over in Janagam. Like most families around here, our lives revolve around rice cultivation. It is a small operation, mostly just us working the land and trying to get a decent crop each year. The work is physically demanding. You are always dealing with the weather—either it is too dry and you are worried about the plants wilting, or it is too wet and you are worried about rot. We spend our days out in the fields, checking the stalks and keeping the weeds down. It is a long process from the first plowing to the day we finally get to harvest. The dirt is under our fingernails and the sun has darkened our skin, but that is just how it is. We don't use any fancy marketing or anything like that; we just grow what we can and hope for a good price. Sometimes the birds are a real problem, so we have to stay out there to keep them away from the grain. Janagam is a place where people understand the value of a hard day's work. We live simply in the house near the fields. There is always something that needs fixing, a tool that’s dull or a gate that won't stay shut. We just keep going, day after day, following the same path our parents did. It is a lot of work but it keeps us busy.