Beautiful Pictures of Rice Terraces

Terraces Cultivation, also known as Step Farming, is used to cultivate sloped land such as on hilly or mountainous terrain. Terraced fields decrease erosion and surface runoff, and are effective for growing crops requiring much water, such as rice.

In most systems the terrace is a low, flat ridge of earth built across the slope, with a channel for runoff water just above the ridge. Usually terraces are built on a slight grade so that the water caught in the channel moves slowly toward the terrace outlet. In areas where soils are able to take in water readily and rainfall is relatively low, level terraces may be used.

Terraced paddy fields are used widely in rice farming in east, south, and southeast Asia, such as China, Japan, the Philippines. Terrace farming is also common throughout the Mediterranean Basin, where they were used for vineyards, olive trees, cork oak, etc and in parts of Africa. In the Andes, farmers have used terraces for over a thousand years to farm potatoes, maize, and other native crops.

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