Mountain Rice - Photos

This proud Dayak man standing in front of his rice garden in August 1999 in recently cleared rainforest to grow rice in mountainous areas within Central Kalimantan province on Borneo island, Indonesia. Unlike coastal lowlands, these highland areas grow rice without flooding the paddy as characteristic in lowland areas. A different strain of mountain rice is used to resist drier conditions yet maintain satisfactory yields. Creating such rice gardens accelerates the deforestation of the once pristine Borneo rainforest as population pressures push farmers further inland from major thoroughfares.