[Auntie Mame]

Rice actually doesn’t need the water. It’s simply an ancient way to kill all other plants that compete with the rice.

I did not know this. Even after all the Rice Farming TV episodes I've watched. LOL. I googled it and it also says the flooded fields also keeps the rice from having to use a lot of insecticides.

The next thing I want to know is how they handle crop rotation.

[struggle]

>> The next thing I want to know is how they handle crop rotation.

Japanese soil is by nature nutrient deficient. They usually will chop the rice and let the roots and emerging stalks regrow until it naturally dies with the first bad frost in December. Then the farmers re-till the those stalks and roots before reflooding the fields. Then they plant new seedlings in March. I don’t think I’ve seen any rotation in the years I was there.