Golden harvest and after in Nagaland

Golden fields ready for harvest at Khonoma village in Nagaland India
Bridge to the golden side: Terraced fields ready for harvest at Khonoma village in Nagaland India

Last time I had shown some images of the Amazing Terraced Fields of Nagaland.

Now, here’s a glimpse of the harvest and after. The terraced fields start ripening into a golden hue by late September and are ready to be harvested by mid to late October. All harvesting activity is completed in most areas of Nagaland by mid November. 

After harvest, the grains, still protected in their husks, are traditionally stored in huge bamboo rice baskets/bins. Portions are then taken out according to need and sun dried on bamboo mats. After they are properly dried, they’re hand pounded to split the husks. This is a multiple step process whereby the pounded grain is taken out and tossed in a flat bamboo winnowing basket to remove the husks. The grain is then pounded again. This process is repeated several times till all the husks are gone. The last few countable stubborn ones are then picked off by hand and the cleaned rice is ready for the kitchen.


Terraced fields ready for harvest – Khonoma village, Nagaland: India
Golden fields ready for harvest – Khonoma village, Nagaland: India

A Naga farmer harvesting her paddy field
A warm beautiful day, just right for harvesting: A farmer gets busy in her field

Naga traditional bamboo baskets used for storing rice grains after harvest
Naga traditional bamboo rice baskets: The rice grains still protected in its husks are stored in these baskets after harvest.

A traditional grain storage bamboo basket stands alongside rice filled gunny bags in a Naga village
Old and New: A traditional grain storage bamboo basket stands alongside rice filled gunny bags. Besides the traditional storage baskets, gunny bags are nowadays quite commonly used by farmers to store their rice grains and other field produce

A Naga village woman sun dries her rice grains on bamboo mats
A Chakhesang village woman sun dries her rice grains on bamboo mats

A young boy and his sister guard rice grains spread out on a bamboo mat for drying in a Naga village
A young boy and his sister hang around guarding rice grains spread out on a bamboo mat for drying in a Naga village. Someone always has to be nearby to chase away chickens and birds that come to feed on the grains.

A typical scene in a Naga village home
Rice grains spread out to dry on a mat, firewood stacked on the side, some green herbs being sun-dried on a flat bamboo basket – a typical scene in a Naga village home






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