Rice · 7 / 7
Rice Landscapes
Rice grows in five very different environments, from mountain terraces to water a metre deep.
Terraced rice
Rice grown in irrigated, bunded paddies carved as terraces along mountain contours. Water from forested mountaintops is channelled down through the terraces. UNESCO describes the Ifugao terraces as 'terraced pond fields' fed by 'intricate irrigation systems, harvesting water from the forests of the mountain tops'.
2,000 yearsIfugao: age of terrace technique (UNESCO wording: 'in use in the region for 2000 years virtually unchanged')year 1995 · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
16,603.22 haHonghe Hani: inscribed property areayear 2013 · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
29,501.01 haHonghe Hani: buffer zone areayear 2013 · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
3,000 terracesHonghe Hani: maximum number of terraces on one slope ('as many as')year 2013 · UNESCO World Heritage Centre
- UNESCO says the Ifugao terraces reach 'a higher altitude' and are 'built on steeper slopes than many other terraces'.
- UNESCO describes the Hani landscape as a 'four-fold system of forests, water supply, terraces and houses'. Its farming system combines red rice with buffalo, cattle, ducks, fish and eels.
- The Rice Almanac says bunded rice fields and terraces trap sediments and nutrients and help prevent soil erosion and landslides.