Just wondering if anyone knows the process for growing rice? We've got about 15 rai near Udon which my wife's family grow rice on. It seems to me that they throw out rice seed, let it grow a bit and then pull out the shoots and reinsert each one into the ground by hand. But I'm not there all the time so haven't seen a complete rice growing cycle. I'd also be interested as to when fertiliser is added. I've looked on the net but can't see a sort of step by step guide of the growing cycle through to harvesting.

Start here:

http://www.irri.org/science/cnyinfo/thailand.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy_field

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmine_rice ( Although 'sticky rice' is more common in the North East.)

http://tinyurl.com/RicePictures

I'd also be interested as to when fertiliser is added...

Typically, cattle roam the land while it is dry with other grasses or weeds growing and they add 'natural' fertiliser, other sources of 'natural' fertiliser like chickens, pigs and human is used depending on the area and if some rich farang is bank rolling the project.

I've seen some people getting into ploughing the cut stems back into the ground while others still burn it off, after harvest.

...shoots and reinsert each one into the ground by hand.

Back breaking work for 180-200 Baht a day, if you fancy giving it a go, there is a thread on TV about suitable footware.

Maintaining the water level is the key issue mostly, often pumped between fields to (IME) allow a harvest to be spread out across the farms(families) land - at the point of harvest there is often a shortage of workers to get the crop in at the ideal time for best product vs best market price for an early delivery.

HTH