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Rice terraces in Bengkulu, Indonesia
Nice rice
Rice is the main staple food for more than half the people on Earth, and Indonesia is far from an exception. The fourth-most populous country in the world is also its fourth-largest rice producer, cultivating the miniscule cereal grains on a massive scale to the tune of 50 million tonnes. Like in many hilly rice-producing regions, the paddies are arranged in stepped terraces, so rainwater flow and gravity do much of the irrigation work. Here in Bengkulu Province, Sumatra, many farmers have adopted a resource recycling system involving livestock. Their cattle eat straw made from the rice plant's grassy blades, and the inevitable manure fertilises the fields.
Nice rice
Rice is the main staple food for more than half the people on Earth, and Indonesia is far from an exception. The fourth-most populous country in the world is also its fourth-largest rice producer, cultivating the miniscule cereal grains on a massive scale to the tune of 50 million tonnes. Like in many hilly rice-producing regions, the paddies are arranged in stepped terraces, so rainwater flow and gravity do much of the irrigation work. Here in Bengkulu Province, Sumatra, many farmers have adopted a resource recycling system involving livestock. Their cattle eat straw made from the rice plant's grassy blades, and the inevitable manure fertilises the fields.
© rahmad himawan / iStock / Getty Images Plus 2026-09-11 08:45:52 :