.:: Seed Story ::.

Not long ago, I found myself studying scrolled paintings from China that were on display in a museum here in Singapore. Over 300 years old and more 60 feet long, they memorialize tours that the Emperor Kangxi made of his vast country -- kind of like a photo album. The scrolls show villages and surrounding countryside in astonishing detail, buzzing with thousands of tiny figures going about daily life in dumpling shops, temples, tea houses, and markets. Outside of the village areas are fruit orchards of all kinds, livestock being tended (including a runaway cow!), and various crops being planted, tended and harvested.

Though separated by 300 years and a thousand miles or so, the same rich essence of rural life captured in Chinese emperor’s scrolls can be found today in this image from the Philippines, among others on IRRI's terrific Flickr collection.

Details in an image like this can teach us much about rural places and their geography, climate, and agricultural practices. These pictures allow us to feel the energy and industry of people who farm, and inspire our curiosity. Who are these people? Did it rain? What will they do tomorrow? Will their newly planted fields survive through the coming months of weather, pests and disease to give them a good harvest?

Farming can be brutally hard work, but it is often done in beautiful places by people of dignity and strength. Good pictures teach us all how agriculture and food production fits in to communities around the world, and inspire us to learn more. Read more about images of agriculture on our blog.