The golden season of drying rice in the village square.

The rice ripens across the fields, and the grains are carried by the farmers back to the village square. The village squares in Hai Duong are once again bustling with activity as the golden rice is dried.

When summer is at its most vibrant, the fields of Hai Duong are dyed golden by the ripening rice paddies. The shimmering golden color stretches in the wind, and the rhythmic sound of harvesting machines in the early morning sun signals the arrival of harvest season.

Now, combine harvesters roam the fields, gathering the rice into sacks and loading it onto trucks right in the fields. Farmers now only need to transport the rice back from the fields. And drying the rice is now the main task of the harvest season.

Gone are the days of people wielding sickles and carrying poles to harvest by hand, as was common a few years ago.

In many villages in Hai Duong, after harvesting, rice is not dried in the yard but brought to the communal house courtyard – a place that was once a cultural center, but has now become the center of the harvest season.

The courtyard of Dong communal house (Thanh Tung commune, Thanh Mien district, Hai Duong province) - the place where the order for the General Uprising to seize power in Thanh Mien district was once issued - is bustling with people stirring and fanning, their conversations echoing under the ancient roof.

The courtyard of Thach Loi communal house (Cam Giang town, Cam Giang district) is just as bustling. Every available space is utilized as a rice drying area. The roof of the communal house, once a witness to festivals and celebrations, now quietly accompanies the harvest season.

The elderly also came out to the village square, sitting under the eaves, watching over the rice and chatting. The rice gradually dried in the sun, while the conversation continued under the village roof. Watching over the rice now became a rare opportunity to sit back, relax, and leisurely talk about village and field matters.

The joy of a bountiful harvest was evident on every face. This winter-spring season, Mr. Nguyen Tho Hau's family in Thach Loi area (Cam Giang town, Cam Giang district) planted 4 acres of rice fields, each acre yielding about 2.4 tons, significantly higher than the previous season. "It's a good harvest, and the weather is also great. With this kind of weather, we only need to dry the rice for two days before we can bring it home to store," Mr. Hau said with a satisfied smile.

The courtyard of Ninh Xa communal house (Le Ninh commune, Kinh Mon town) also becomes a rice drying area every harvest season. In the evening, when the sun is gentle, the children, having finished their chores, rush out to the courtyard to help the adults gather the rice.

Ms. Vu Thi An (Le Ninh commune, Kinh Mon town) happily stands beside a pile of rice still warm from the sun. “This season is a great harvest. I planted 5 sao (approximately 0.5 hectares), and each sao yielded about 2 to 2.5 quintals of rice,” she recounted.

The joy of a bountiful harvest is not only reflected in each sack of rice, but also evident in the sun-tanned faces of the farmers. Nods of agreement and questions like, "How many quintals per acre?" echo like news of the harvest season.

In the village square, the harvest atmosphere flowed freely with each rhythmic fanning. It wasn't simply the material joy of a bountiful harvest, but also the feeling of reassurance that the land hadn't let down the laborers, the sky hadn't abandoned the seeds, and the village square seemed like a silent supporter of the abundant crop.

VAN TUAN

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/mua-vang-hong-thoc-san-dinh-414520.html