Sickles And Scythes

[Monkey Fish]

Just wondering why sickles are (traditionally) used to harvest rice rather than scythes.

Scythes seem like they would be more efficient. (Said the farang with 5 minutes of sickle experience to the culture that's been harvesting rice for many thousands of years.)

[Jezz]

Good question! I just asked my wife who helps the family harvest rice. Answer: "Don't know. Everybody do this way." A great logical answer!

[barrybankruad]

Perhaps its because with a sickle you can grab a bundle of rice in one hand and cut it with the other, leaving the cut rice in your hand. With a scythe you with one cut you could cut more rice but then you would have to bend down again to gather it. Just a thought.

[Gary A]

They gather it at the same time as they cut it. If you are not holding the stalks while cutting, there is a loss from rice falling from the heads. After a bunch is cut, they bundle it on top of a tarp to catch the rice that falls out after the bundles are tied. The bundles are then fed into the thresher.

Of course there is also a problem cutting in bulk when they are standing in water and ankle deep in mud.

[Monkey Fish]

Maybe it comes down to the water. In Europe, they could scythe the grain and pick it up after because it wasn't going to get wet...?

Speaking of water, I recently saw some unfortunate farmers trying to salvage their crop in a shoulder-high flooded field. They were cutting underwater and placing the rice on floating rafts. Definitely not scythe work!

The Wikipedia article on scythe has this tidbit: "There is an international scything competition held at Goricko where people from Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Romania, or as far away as Asia appear to showcase their culturally unique method of reaping crops. In 2009, a Japanese gentlemen showcased a wooden reaping tool with a metal edge, which he used to show how rice was cut. He was impressed with the speed of the local reapers, but said such a large scythe would never work in Japan."

Edited November 15, 2011 by Monkey Fish

[jaideeguy]

The syckle is used because it gives you more control than a sythe. You grab a bundle that you want to cut and after cutting it, tie the bundle with a split bamboo, then just lay the harvested bundle on top of the stubble [in dry weather] and it will dry in a few days if no rain......then finish drying on a tarp after being threshed. I have done it before and rice is hard work all the way from planting to harvesting unless they use a machine for both planting and harvesting.

The old fashioned [non mechanical method here in the north] is mostly used when the farmer wants to save the rice for seed.....less damage.

[rizla]

They use the sycle because, yes it allows them to bunch the rice in hand, but one very important point is that the sycle allows them to cut near to the top which they want as less to go through the thresher...i still have the scars from last year when i left my pinky dangling out..those sycles are sharp....

[sinbin]

Obviously a posed photo. No woman with hands, and nails, like that would be harvesting rice. Why no scythes ? Probably because they would be too heavy for a woman to use. Rice cutting is primary a woman's job. The men then tie the bundles up and stack.

Edited November 17, 2011 by sinbin

[cardholder]

Obviously a posed photo. No woman with hands, and nails, like that would be harvesting rice. Why no scythes ? Probably because they would be too heavy for a woman to use. Rice cutting is primary a woman's job. The men then tie the bundles up and stack.

She may have just popped up from Pattaya to help the family with the harvest.....................................

[SantiSuk]

It was always a good ploy to take a girl's hand and feel if she was a farm worker or not. No, not because I was looking for a hiso office girl. Rather, having said 'aha, you cut rice, yes?' the girls who reacted warmly to that and talked about their background were so much more interesting for 'company' than the precious dolled-up poppets who rushed into denial