Duck with Rice

On the edge of the village a local farmer is now growing a crop of dryland rice in place of the traditional local crop of sugarcane. I drove past this morning and stopped to take some photos of the crop. A Black Duck wandered out of the crop and posed for a photo. It is probably waiting for the grains to ripen and fall. I imagine the farmer aims to harvest the crop before then.

The extra is a ricey collage. The photo on the right shows the rice crop in the foreground and sugar cane behind. Top left shows the droopy arcs of almost mature rice heads. Bottom left is the final product, which I bought this morning at the local farmer's market.

Dryland rice is grown without the more common practice of flooding padi fields. It relies on natural rainfall, of which we get quite a lot! - nearly 2 metres a year, on average.