Slash & Burn Farming – Panorama កាប់ ចំការ ដាំ ស្រូវ

Hilltribe farm prepared for planting dryland rice
Hilltribe farm prepared for planting dryland rice

ចំការ នៅ រតនគីរី

I shot this last week out in the highlands in Northeast Cambodia. The ethnic minority hilltribes are all prepping their fields to prepare for planting their dryland rice next month.

It’s pretty cool to watch: they clear an acre or two of the forrest (by hand!), then burn the brush and fallen trees to return nutrients to the soil. Then they build a cozy little house out of bamboo, like the one in the photo, to live in during the 4-5 months that their rice grows.
They can normally use each plot of land for 2, maybe 3 years, until the soil gives out and they have to move on, always rotating to keep the soil rich.

They’ve done this, uninterrupted, for thousands of years. Amazing.

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