Have you ever witnessed
farmers diligently
working in their
green rice fields?
Or, have you seen beautiful,
golden rice ears
waving in the breeze?
God has bestowed
many precious gifts
upon our Earth for all
beings to share, including
rice, whose ears are
a favorite food of birds.
The leaves of rice plants
provide the gentle water
buffalo with sustenance.
In return, animals
also help in the growth
of the plants.
For example, ducks
leisurely walking through
rice fields enhance
the sprouting of seedlings
and their healthy growth.
Under the Creator’s
perfect plan, all animals
and plants thus live
together in harmony.
Greetings, wise viewers,
and welcome to
the first in
a two-part program
on growing organic rice.
Organic rice is superior
to conventionally
grown rice for a number
of reasons including
its cultivation which involves
no spraying of chemicals
that are poisonous
to the environment
and consumers need not
worry about ingesting
pesticide residue when
eating this type of rice.
Today, we’re honored
to hear from
Mr. Chen Shih-hsiung,
president of
Ming Dao University
in Formosa (Taiwan)
and the Association
of Formosa (Taiwan)
Organic Agriculture
Promotion, an expert on
organic rice production.
He will kindly describe
the initial stages
of rice farming and
how various cultivation
challenges are overcome
with organic methods.
Rice has a long history
dating back at least
14,000 years
to ancient China, and is
one of humanity’s most
important staple foods,
with half the world’s
population
consuming it daily.
For people in Southeast
Asian nations
such as Indonesia,
Âu Lạc (Vietnam) and
Thailand rice on average
comprises 60% of
their diet.
Thailand is the world’s
top exporter of rice,
shipping out about
8 million tons a year.
Rice comes in a variety
of types, with different
shapes, textures, forms
and amounts of starch.
Jasmine rice from
Thailand and basmati rice
from India are highly
popular varieties because
of their splendid aroma
and grand taste.
Being a tropical plant,
rice grows best in warm,
humid environments.
The planting process
includes seed sprouting,
land preparation,
seedling transplantation,
weeding and harvesting.
Traditionally, farmers
sprouted rice seeds
on their own land,
with seedlings being
transplanted into
the fields at about
eight centimeters high.
Nowadays, however,
sprouting is usually done
in containers
in nursery gardens.
President Chen will now
introduce the organic
way of seed sprouting.
Nowadays we have
nursery gardens that
can help you with
seed germination
before sowing.
There won’t be
any problem as long
as you tell the nursery
garden staff,
not to sterilize seeds with
chemical sterilization.
They usually use
chemical sterilization.
So you need to ask them
to use other methods.
For example, they can
use vinegar to sterilize.
Bacteria are gone after
vinegar sterilization.
Then you start to sow.
Of course,
in the process of growing,
you hope the rice shoots
grow stronger,
so you may use some
organic fertilizers
such as plant ash, which
increases potassium.
Stems and branches grow
stronger after absorbing
these substances.
Brine enables
the partially filled seeds
to float, while the filled
seeds remain underwater.
Then the germination
rate will be better.
Land preparation
involves plowing and
harrowing, which make
the soil soft and loose.
Nutrients for rice plants
are also mixed
into the earth.
Land preparation can
help rice plants grow better.
In the past, farmers had
to till the land with hoes,
but nowadays,
the work of soil turning
is done by machines.
Before you transplant
seedlings, you need to
plow the land.
Basically, it’s best that
you apply fertilizer
while plowing.
The best form of fertilizer
is compost.
If you fertilize with 4,000
kilograms of organic
compost per hectare,
the nutrition is enough.
In fact, it’s not necessary
to fertilize too much.
When the land is prepared,
farmers can start
to transplant seedlings.
Traditionally, a kind of
tool is used to mark
the spots for the seedlings.
When transplanting
rice seedlings by hand,
farmers wear
a seedling-separating
device on the thumb
of their left hand
to facilitate the work.
Nowadays, however,
seedling transplantation
is usually done with
a seedling planter, but
in places with irregular,
rugged topography,
the transplanting still needs
to be done by hand.
Theoretically speaking,
leaving a bigger space
between plants is preferred,
so that the stems
can grow stronger and
the plants won’t shade
one another, and thus
have less insect damage
and disease.
So it’s better if the space
between the rows can be
at least 30 centimeters.
Don’t plant too many
rice seedlings in one spot.
Many farmers
put in too many.
For the first crop season,
many kinds of rice can be
planted, so it is enough to
plant three rice seedlings
in one spot.
For the second crop season,
since the temperatures
are higher, less kinds
of rice can be planted,
so you can plant
five to seven seedlings
in one spot.
With lower density and
bigger space between
plants, there will be
less insect damage
and disease.
When we return,
we’ll explore other
green techniques
organic rice farmers use
to address insects
and disease affecting
their plants.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back
to our program on
organic rice production.
Conventional agriculture
has been heavily reliant
on pesticides and
herbicides to grow crops,
but this approach
is counterproductive.
The chemicals seriously
harm people, animals
and the environment.
A few years ago,
President Chen
discovered the many
deleterious effects
of modern farming
and since has dedicated
himself to promoting
organic farming.
Basically, our modern
agriculture is a type of
lethal agriculture.
During the production
process when farmers
spray chemical pesticides
their health is affected.
They inhale a lot of
pesticides that are
harmful to their health.
Also, when the pesticides
are sprayed onto the fields,
not only the plant-eating
bugs are killed, but also
the beneficent insects.
The bugs will become
tougher and more
resistant to the pesticides,
and you will need to use
a higher dose each time.
Also, pesticide residues
will remain on crops
and rice that we
purchase and eat.
After the consumers eat it,
their health also
gets threatened.
Further, the chemicals
get absorbed into the soil,
and destroy all
the microbes in the soil.
Finally when
the chemicals go into
the sea they finish off
all the marine life,
including the plankton.
There are natural
and gentle methods
to cultivate the food
for our table.
One way is choosing
to grow those species
of rice which are most
hardy and have
the strongest immunity
to disease and insects.
Encouraging ducks
to come into one’s field
is a simple way to keep
weeds under control.
President Chen says that
by walking through
the rice paddies,
the ducks naturally
step down on weeds
so they will not grow and
their action of walking
makes the water muddy
and thus also inhibits
weed growth.
He will now explain
another green method
to prevent weeds
from sprouting.
To avoid weeds among
fields, nowadays,
farmers practice
chemical farming;
herbicides are used
after irrigation.
When the herbicides are
dissolved and spread
all over,
all the weed seeds will die
and could not sprout.
However, we cannot do
this in organic farming.
Then what should we do?
We surely have
other methods.
For example, we may
spread rice bran or red
bean powder to the fields.
Their fermentation
will create heat that
neutralizes weed seeds.
Yet, water control
is the easiest way to rid
of weeds, because weeds
cannot grow in deep water.
Azolla, which is also
called red waterfern,
because it turns red
in autumn, is yet another
natural technique to keep
weeds at a minimum
in rice fields.
We scatter azolla seeds
in irrigation water to
rice fields, and very soon,
they will grow
all over the fields.
During the first crop season,
the temperatures are
lower so azolla grows
very well.
When the field is covered
by azolla,
no weeds can grow.
This is number one.
Another benefit is that
azolla can form symbiotic
relationships with
blue-green algae, which
can convert nitrogen
in the air into fertilizer,
so azolla is also a kind of
green manure.
Chemical fertilizers
are not used to grow
organic rice, rather only
Earth-friendly ways to
nourish the crop are used.
The key to soil management
is improving
the ecosystem and
making the organisms
or microorganisms
in the soil work for you.
Therefore, you should
put organic matter
into the soil from time
to time for the organisms
to eat.
Then they will quickly
breed and work for you
after feeding.
So, regarding
soil management
for organic rice,
the first principle is that
you should always grow
some plants in your field,
even during winter time.
In Formosa, normally,
farmers only grow plants
in the first and
second crop seasons.
The rice production rate
is higher in the first crop
season, so we suggest
you mainly grow rice plants.
But during the second
crop season
and winter crop season,
you can also grow some
green manure plants,
which can be plowed
back into the soil
to feed the organisms
and microorganisms.
And then they will breed
rapidly and work for you
in large numbers.
Finally, the soil will
become well-mixed,
fertile and very good
with a good structure.
Then we can plant
paddy rice again
in the next crop season.
So it’s pretty good.
The cost of
conventionally grown rice
to the environment
is significant and if
all rice farmers switched
to organic cultivation
a great burden would be
lifted from our lands.
The reason that the cost
of growing organic rice
is so high and the cost of
chemical farming
is so low is that
we forget to include
many invisible costs.
These include
the environmental cost,
people’s health
and social costs.
If we add them in
and calculate carefully,
we may find that using
chemical pesticides and
fertilizers to produce rice
may cost even more than
growing organic rice.
Our sincere thanks
President Chen Shih-hsiung,
for your detailed
explanations and efforts
to encourage
organic rice farming.
May Heaven bless
your noble work, so that
many more farmers will
join the ranks of those
practicing organic
agriculture.
Intelligent viewers,
please join us again
tomorrow for
part two of our program
where we’ll describe how
organic rice is harvested,
and becomes a fragrant
dish on our dining tables.
For more details
on President Chen,
please visit
Thank you for
your presence today
on our program.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News.
May we enjoy abundance
and peace for all time.
Have you ever witnessed
farmers diligently
working in their
green rice fields?
Or, have you seen beautiful,
golden rice ears
waving in the breeze?
God has bestowed
many precious gifts
upon our Earth for all
beings to share, including
rice, whose ears are
a favorite food of birds.
The leaves of rice plants
provide the gentle water
buffalo with sustenance.
In return, animals
also help in the growth
of the plants.
For example, ducks
leisurely walking through
rice fields enhance
the sprouting of seedlings
and their healthy growth.
Under the Creator’s
perfect plan, all animals
and plants thus live
together in harmony.
Greetings, valued viewers,
and welcome
to the conclusion of
our two-part program
on growing organic rice.
Yesterday, an expert on
organic rice production,
Mr. Chen Shih-hsiung,
president of
Ming Dao University
in Formosa (Taiwan)
and the Association of
Formosa (Taiwan)
Organic Agriculture
Promotion discussed
the initial stages of
cultivating
organic rice plants.
Today, we meet some
rice organic farmers,
cover the latter stages of
organic rice production,
and learn about some of
the delicious rice dishes
that are enjoyed in Asia.
When we’re in harmony
with nature, it will in turn
give us countless gifts.
Now, an organic
rice farmer who used
to work in a big city
will share the genuine
feelings in his heart
about his benevolent
occupation.
Mr. Lin, can you tell us
what made you want
to get involved with
organic rice farming?
It is to improve
the farming environment,
to protect our environment
from the harmful effects
of chemical fertilizers,
so we can live in
harmony with all beings.
Also, when people
eat our produce,
they won’t need to worry
about the dangers
of pesticides.
That’s how we started.
What’s your feeling when
you touch the Earth while
working in a paddy field?
It’s a very solid feeling.
I feel very natural
and healthy.
It makes me feel very happy.
Life on the farm is busy
and never slow,
but does not have
the kind of intense
pressure of urban life.
You can be very relaxed
enjoying the sunshine,
gentle breeze,
and beautiful scenery.
Mr. Yoshikazu Kawaguchi
of Nara, Japan
is the pioneer of the
Natural Farming method
and uses no chemical
pesticides, herbicides
or fertilizers
in his rice fields.
The period of
planting rice seedlings
is equivalent to childhood
for humans.
So rice seedlings will be
planted in their youth,
but we plant rice seedlings
in a rice field.
And it takes about
a month for the rice
seedlings to grow
into young adulthood.
If summer grasses grow
in this period, rice crops
will be overtaken after all.
In such a case,
farmers will cut the weeds
and line the rice field
with the cut weeds.
Then the rice crops
will quickly grow
into young adulthood
after a month.
Their life-span is
half a year,
so their growth is quick.
They quickly
build their bodies.
Even after they have
built their bodies,
there are weeds below.
Various weeds are below.
Various weeds allow
various small insects
to live.
When various small insects
exist there, they will
help make plants thrive.
So they will
make rice crops thrive.
This is the cycle of life.
According to
Mr. Kawaguchi,
nature alone provides
all the nutrients
needed by the rice crops,
and weeds actually play
an integral role
in enriching the soil
for all forms of life.
We tend to think
that weeds may absorb
the nutrients that are given
for the rice crops,
and thus
crop yields may be less.
However, it is not true
in the natural world.
When rice is growing
and various weeds are
growing within its area,
the soil becomes rich.
We can notice this when
we look at things from
a little wider perspective.
President Chen will now
introduce us to the latter
stages of rice production
and how farmers know
when it is time
to harvest the crop.
When the rice turns
yellow and matures,
we can harvest it.
In the beginning,
the rice ear emerges
and then it blossoms
and pollinates itself.
Then, the endosperms
grow and develop into seeds.
Now, it comes into
the milky ripe stage.
At this stage,
if you press the grain,
some fluid-like milk
will come out.
This is the milky
ripeness stage,
at which the rice cannot
be harvested yet.
We need to wait
until it turns golden.
When it does, it’s
in the yellow ripe stage.
If you open the grain,
you can see that
it is full and round,
and very hard.
Then you can
harvest the rice.
But do not wait until
the dried stage.
It will be too late.
The rice quality
will not be good, and
the yield will decrease.
The yellow ripe stage is
the best time to harvest.
It’s best to choose
to harvest on a sunny day
at this stage.
In Formosa (Taiwan),
people use rice combine
harvesters to harvest.
They drive the harvester
around which can cut,
thresh, and winnow the rice.
The machine
can also cut rice straw
into short pieces.
Then, the grains are
packed in bags and
stored in a barn.
During the process of
producing organic rice,
each step needs to be
handled with care,
including storage
after drying.
It’s usually stored
at a temperature of
15 degrees Celsius.
The Japanese usually
process the grain
into brown rice first
before storage.
In Formosa (Taiwan), we
store the rice right after
it is harvested,
and husk the rice later.
Before the automatic rice
harvester was invented,
farmers cut ripe
rice plants with sickles
and bundled them
into large bales.
Then a threshing machine
was used to separate
the rice grains
from the stems.
Next, the grains were
dried in the sunlight
for long-term storage.
Nowadays, rice grains
are mostly dried
with huge rice dryers.
We put the harvested rice
into this machine
called a thresher.
The machine can separate
grains from stalks
with its rotating roller.
Aren’t the golden
rice grains beautiful?
To obtain the rice
that we see in markets,
further processing such
as milling is needed
to remove the hulls
after the rice is dried.
We’ll see how this is done
after this brief message.
Please stay tuned to
Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back to
our program
celebrating the cultivation
of organic rice.
Now Ms. Polly Hsu
from Rice Castle,
a rice museum
in Formosa (Taiwan),
will explain how
rice is hulled following
a drying period.
This is a rice huller.
We put the newly
harvested rice in it.
It automatically removes
the hulls from
the rice grains,
and produces brown rice.
The machine also
separates the brown rice
and the hulls to two sides.
The brown rice will be
further milled through
a rice polishing machine
to produce white rice
which every family eats.
Of course,
after the rice is milled,
we have to make sure
all the impurities
are removed.
So we need this machine
on the left called
a stone separator.
With vibration,
small stones and
impurities can be
filtered out because of
the weight difference,
and that’s how
we get pure white rice.
The next machine on
the left is the color sorter.
It utilizes
ultraviolet radiation
to do the inspection.
If there are broken rice
grains or some impurities,
it immediately removes
them with a jet of air
to ensure that every
grain of rice is of
the highest quality.
Rice used to be picked
by hand, but nowadays,
mechanical equipment
is used.
In Formosa (Taiwan),
the rice selection is also
done with a computer.
Brown rice, which is
the result after removal
of the hulls, is the most
nutritious form of rice.
If the outer layer of
brown rice is removed,
we get germ rice,
which has the embryo
and rice seed.
If the embryo
is also taken away,
we get white rice.
After milling,
rice is traditionally
packed in burlap bags
of different sizes.
Nowadays vacuum
packaging is used
to preserve rice longer.
The packaged rice is sent
to supermarkets or
exclusive grain shops
for people to buy.
Even on the Internet,
one can purchase
high-quality organic rice.
Now we have
our finished product.
What are some
tasty ways to prepare
this gift from Heaven?
One can make fragrant
cooked rice or porridge.
Nowadays, most people
use a rice cooker or
a multifunctional electric
cooker to prepare rice,
so there is no worry
about burning it.
Rice noodles are
quite popular in Asia,
with Chinese,
Aulacese (Vietnamese)
and Thai rice noodles
being quite famous.
Rice can also be
processed to make
all kinds of other
delicious dishes such as
rice dumplings,
steamed rice cakes,
bowl rice cakes,
and turnip cakes.
Crispy popped rice
is a favorite among
the Chinese people.
Okay. Now behind me
you can see a machine
that is used to make
puffed rice treats at our
“Rice DIY
(Do It Yourself) School”.
Puffed rice is often
made into sweets in
traditional agricultural
communities.
Puffed rice is produced
by heating rice
under high pressure,
and then it is mixed with
maltose syrup to form
the crispy rice cakes.
It was a very popular
snack in the agricultural
communities.
Its crispness and sweetness
are just unforgettable.
To close,
the organic vegan diet
is truly our future and
more and more people
are adopting this lifestyle
every day.
With society’s
encouragement,
it is only a matter of time
before all farmers begin
growing organic crops
like rice.
Supreme Master Ching Hai
has lauded farmers
worldwide for their
sincere and diligent work
of love, namely producing
wholesome food
for our daily sustenance.
Everything is difficult,
even just to eat, I tell you.
It is difficult, right?
You have to
first earn money.
And even not money.
The farmer has to plant
the food and
it takes many months,
sometimes many years to
grow some fruits for us.
And he has to even
take care every day,
he has to water it
and then put fertilizer
and do all kinds of things
in order for the fruits
to grow better.
And then we can eat it,
but it takes one second
to finish the apple
but it takes a lot of work
to grow and to produce it.
May organic crops
forever flourish so that
we and all our lovely
animal friends
will be protected from
harsh chemicals and
our environment will
become safer and cleaner.
Our appreciation
President
Chen Shih-hsiung,
Mr. Lin Nang-Fa,
Mr. Yoshikazu Kawaguchi,
and Ms. Polly Hsu
for speaking to us about
rice production process
and its true beauty.
For more details
on the following
individuals/organizations,
please visit
their respective websites
President
Chen Shih-hsiung
Yoshikazu Kawaguchi
Rice Castle
Thank you,
esteemed viewers,
for your presence today
on our program.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News.
May the Providence
forever guide us
in our lives.