Making rice

Of course growing rice is one thing and harvesting it is another, but the third important stage is milling. It hadn't occurred to me how this process is carried out, I suppose I just assumed it appeared out of nowhere.

Khamma and I were walking to 'Owerrrouse' one day and I commented on the loud engine noise coming out of a large shed along the way. 'Oh, that's the make rice, tirak' and we ventured inside. We found the milling machine and it appeared as an amazing array of belts, pulleys and hoppers. I tried to figure out how it worked but it wasn't easy.

Roughly speaking the dried rice seeds are poured into the tray on the right, and then they drop onto the sieve below which is filtering out the odd bit of straw. They then flow through the rectangular tube into the draw and at this point I think the seeds are vacuumed up to the top of the machine.

The seeds are then dropped into the right hand compartment of the tray in the central part of the machine and flow down through a series of sieves where the chaff is separated. It appears that the seeds then go back up into the left hand compartment of the tray and flow down again to separate the seeds by size.

It was a little difficult to interpret how all this happens. You can see in the picture that the rice finally falls into one of two buckets. The one on the left takes normal sized seeds and the one on the right very small rice seeds, like sago. The chaff is collected in another bucket and is used to feed the pigs.

The machine is used as a co-operative and everybody can take turns in using it to mill their own rice and bag it up ready for market.

The owner of the machine keeps it running with spare parts and lots of love, care and attention, and the user has to by the fuel. The sound of the diesel engine brought a smile to my face and the pulley belts without guards and protection was another reminder of the differences between nanny state England and rural Thailand.

The finished rice is bagged and stored for eating by the family, but if there is surplus it is sold at the wholesale market in Ubon Ratchathani. In theory it could end up in Tesco's - now there's a thought to ponder as you eat your chicken chow mein!

This year with the price of rice tripling on the open market it is more crucial than ever that the harvest is successful. If it fails then all the families in Thamuang will have to buy their rice and this will severely test the finances. To try and combat this Khamma's mama has literally bulldozed the trees and undergrowth from a few more acres of land to create yet more rice fields. They have also employed itinerant workers to plant out the seedlings to improve productivity (hopefully). So far the rains have ensured the seedlings have got off to a good start so the there is confidence of a plentiful harvest. To sell more on the open market would boost the coffers. There are also the potatoes to 'chip in' to the income, but this is more unknown because it is the first year they have tried to grow them in bulk. It will be November or early December when the harvest begins for both crops.