Cuban success with "Arroz Popular"

Rice growing near Santo Domingo, Cuba (photo by Ziurdraude)

In Cuba, the "arroz popular" (or "cultivo popular") movement is a remarkable example of successful low-input production of rice by small farmers. Rice is a staple of the Cuban diet, and for decades was produced conventionally, with high inputs on large state-owned farms. In response to the crisis of the 1990s, small plots of rice were grown in otherwise unused areas, such as along roadsides or between sugarcane fields. By 2001, the annual production of this "arroz popular" had exceeded the conventional production of rice from large farms in Cuba. In 2008, 75% of the total national production of rice was "arroz popular".

"Fundamental to the Cuban diet, the per capita consumption of rice exceeds 44 kg annually or 265 g per day. The production of rice in Cuba developed for many years on large state farms and it was also one of the crops prioritized by the State. Then it seemed indisputable that to achieve self-sufficiency with this cereal it was necessary to resort to conventional methods of high inputs. Nevertheless, even during the 1980s, when inputs were available, the national demand could not be covered and it was necessary to import 40% of the rice consumed.  Production of this cereal with high inputs proved to be untenable at the beginning of the crisis of the nineties. The new program 'Popular rice' showed that self-managed and low-input agriculture could have a positive impact on national food self-sufficiency. The 'popular rice' production was, in its origins, like the urban agriculture in general, a movement for self-sufficiency. This cereal began to be cultivated in abandoned areas, in small plots between sugarcane fields, roadsides, etc. The movement grew rapidly and achieved unforeseen levels of production and efficiency. In 1997, while the Union of Rice Companies produced 150,000 tons, the 'Popular rice' movement achieved 140,600 tons and involved 73,500 small farmers who obtained, as a national average, 2.8 t/ha without the use of expensive inputs... In 2001, 'Popular rice' represented more than 50% of the total national production; in the year 2008, 75%."

-- Fernando R. Funes-Monzote, from Agricultura con Futuro: La alternativa agroecológica para Cuba, 2009 [translated with help from Google Translate]

Rice growing near Viñales, Cuba (photo by Elgaard)

Manual harvesting has a significant role in this rice production, since machinery tends to be unsuitable for the smaller fields. Studies done in Cuba have concluded that for plots up to 0.25 hectares (0.6 acres), manual harvesting is recommended as the most efficient method (as well as the most economical), and for larger plots of 0.25 to 1.0 hectare (2.5 acres), manual harvesting is still the most economical method.

Unfortunately for the farm workers in Cuba, manual harvesting is typically being done with sickles or machetes. This is one area where scythes can have an important role. (Another important role that scythes would have is to reduce dependency on imports of fuel, machinery, and spare parts that keep the machinery running.)  

With a scythe, rice is harvested at least 3 to 5 times faster than with a sickle (as measured during trials in India). This increased efficiency of manual harvesting with scythes will effectively increase the size of the field where manual harvesting is the most efficient and economical method, further reducing dependencies on imported fuel and machinery.

Beyond the improved efficiencies, the use of scythes is also friendlier to the bodies of the workers. Sickles and machetes require the worker to bend over or squat throughout the day while cutting, while scythes get the job done in less time while the worker is in a more-comfortable standing position.

Alexander Vido, the scythe advocate from Canada who brought scythes to India (along with Sy Schotz, as shown in this viral video), extends a request to Cuban farmers, Cuban agroecologists, and Cuban researchers, asking them to please contact him if they would be interested to see how scythes could be used in Cuba. He asks for an invitation to Cuban farms or research centers, where self-funded demonstrations or trials could be arranged (with all travel, lodging and food expenses paid by the scythe-using visitors from Canada). These activities would be non-commercial in nature, with the goal of increasing awareness of how this tool can benefit small farmers when used properly.

For more information, please contact:

Alexander Vido
71 Linden Avenue
Victoria, BC, V8V 4C9
Canada
phone: (250) 598-0588
email: scytheworks@shaw.ca





Sources:

Quote from Agricultura con Futuro:
La alternativa agroecológica para Cuba
by Fernando R. Funes-Monzote, 2009
pages 27-28
http://www.landaction.org/IMG/pdf/Agricultura_con_Futuro_Funes_Monzote.pdf

Studies done in Cuba:

"Technológias de cosecha y transporte de arroz (Tabla 3)
Segado o corte de las plantas:

Area hasta 0.25 ha para el consumo -- Manual con hoz...

Area hasta 100 ha para el consumo -- Segadora manual motorizada..."
Mecanización de la producción de arroz en parcelas y fincas pequeñas 
Francisco González Guzmán, Idaibel Navarro Rodríguez, Alfredo Sotolongo Domínguez 
Instituto de Investigaciones de Ingeniería Agrícola, (IAgric), Cuba 
Ingeniería Agrícola, ISSN-2227-8761, RNPS-2284, vol. 1, No. 1 (enero-junio, pp. 33-37), 2011 
http://www.actaf.co.cu/revistas/Revista%20IAGRIC/1-2011-artic/iagric05111.pdf

"...en áreas pequeñas hasta 0,25 ha, lo más eficiente es realizar todas las actividades manualmente y con la ayuda de la tracción animal. El segado de las plantas y la trilla debe hacerse manual.  Se siega con una hoz o machete una vez que el grano este en su madurez optima de cosecha (18 – 20 % de humedad)... Si la cantidad de semillas no es grande y no hay riesgo de perdidas por lluvias, animales u otras causas, se pueden secar al sol primero las plantas segadas y luego su trilla será mas fácil...La transportación de las plantas dentro del campo o al lugar de secado puede ser manual o con remolques de tracción animal.  Los productores individuales que poseen áreas hasta 1,00 ha, lo mas recomendable económicamente es realizar la siega de las plantas con la hoz y el machete, también en limitados casos con una segadora manual o motorizada..."
Tecnologías y nuevo equipamiento para la producción arrocera en Cuba. 
Autores e Institución:
Francisco González Guzmán, Pedro Castro García, Octavio López Sánchez, Idaibel Navarro Rodríguez, José Suárez León
Especialistas del Instituto de Investigaciones de Mecanización Agropecuaria. La Habana, Cuba
http://www.fao.org/docs/eims/upload/cuba/5360/Tecnologias%20mecanizaci%C3%B3n%20del%20arroz%20.pdf
http://docplayer.es/21668751-Tecnologias-y-nuevo-equipamiento-para-la-produccion-arrocera-en-cuba-tecnology-and-new-equipment-for-the-rice-production-in-cuba.html

[40% of the 'Popular Rice' harvest in some areas of Cuba was done manually,
and the manual harvest of rice required 15 man-days per hectare.]
"Procesamiento de poscosecha del Arroz Popular
De acuerdo con el intercambio realizado con los productores del área de estudio, la situación más común de la poscosecha es la siguiente: ...En Camagüey, alrededor del 60% de la producción total es cosechada por combinadas pertenecientes a entidades estatales o a cooperativas. Cerca del 30% es cosechada manualmente y trillada por medio de trilladoras pertenecientes a productores individuales y menos del 10%, se cosecha y se trilla todo a mano..."
"En Yaguajay alrededor de 60% se cosecha con combinada..."
"Victoria, Yaguajay ... Corte manual... 15 hombre-día/ha"
ESTUDIO DEL PROGRAMA PARA EL DESARROLLO
SUSTENTABLE DE LA PRODUCCION DE ARROZ
EN LA ZONA CENTRAL DE LA REPUBLICA DE CUBA,
AGENCIA DE COOPERACION INTERNACIONAL DE JAPON (JICA),
MINISTERIO DE LA AGRICULTURA DE LA REPUBLICA DE CUBA (MINAG), 2006
http://open_jicareport.jica.go.jp/pdf/11823168_01.pdf

Harvesting Rice with a Scythe (video from India)
"Using the scythe, we could easily manage to harvest between half to one acre of paddy [rice] in six hours of working, thereby saving a considerable amount of time and effort."
http://scytheconnected.blogspot.com/2017/03/harvesting-rice-with-scythe.html

Photograph "Arroz" by Ziurdraude
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arroz_-_panoramio_(2).jpg

Photograph "Rice fields in Vinales Cuba" by Elgaard
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rice_fields_in_vinales_cuba.jpg

Combine vs Sickle vs Scythe

The scythe is the clear winner for harvesting grains in India, according to calculations by the Vikalp team (costs listed in Rupees):


Combine
Rent = Rs 1,500/acre
Labour = Rs 500/acre
Threshing costs = Rs 0 
Straw wastage = Rs 15,000 worth of straw wastage 
(roughly 30 quintals per acre)
Grain wastage = Rs 3,000-4,500
(roughly 2-3 quintals per acre)
Total cost of harvesting an acre = Rs 21,000 

Sickle
Rent = Rs 0
Labour = Rs 3,000-3,500/acre
Threshing costs = Rs 3,500/acre 
Straw wastage almost zero 
(entire straw available as fodder)
Grain wastage almost zero 
(grain loss due to shedding is negligible)
Total cost of harvesting an acre = Rs 6,500-7,000 

Scythe
Rent = Rs 0
Labour = Rs 600-1,000/acre
Thresing costs = Rs 3,500/acre 
Straw wastage almost zero 
(entire straw available as fodder)
Grain wastage almost zero 
(grain loss due to shedding is negligible)
Total cost of harvesting an acre Rs 4,000-4,500 

Furthermore, the above calculations don't include the social and environmental costs, which make the scythes even more advantageous:

Add to this the fact that harvesting with the sickle involves a lot of drudgery and harvesting with combines leads to social evils like unemployment and environmental hazards like “straw burning”.

Source:

Photos, calculations, and quotations are from Vikalp
http://vikalp.tech/the-scythe/why-scythe/

Scythes are a solution to Delhi air pollution

Screenshot from NDTV Prime Time program, November 9, 2017

"Delhi has earned the unenviable distinction of becoming the most polluted city on Earth this month, as air quality has reached epically bad proportions... merely breathing the air was, at its worst, like smoking 50 cigarettes in a day..."
-- Vox, November 23, 2017


"Why this spike in pollution?...Farmers in the neighboring states are burning straw from their last rice crop to clear fields for planting the wheat crop... The state of Punjab alone produces about 20 million tons of paddy straw. Roughly 85 to 90 percent of that is burnt in the field."
-- The Washington Post, November 11, 2017


"Stubble burning is the ‘main villain’ behind the severe pollution in Delhi and neighbouring areas, the Delhi High Court said on Tuesday."
-- The Hindu, New Delhi, November 7, 2017


The NDTV news program "Prime Time" looked at how the air pollution is linked to the use of combine harvesters. As seen in the following video (an unofficial translated version), host Ravish Kumar suggests that instead of scapegoating the farmers, we try to understand their plight. He describes how scythes could be part of the solution to India's air pollution problem:

NDTV Prime Time program, November 9, 2017

(unofficial translated version - English)

https://youtu.be/9J2eUoRD8NY

Sources:

Delhi's off-the-charts smog, explained
Vox, Nov 23, 2017, Updated by Umair Irfan
https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/11/22/16666808/india-air-pollution-new-delhi

Delhi is blanketed with toxic smog. This is why.
The Washington Post, November 11, 2017
By Aseem Prakash, Nives Dolšak, Thomas Bernauer and Liam McGrath 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/11/11/delhis-been-hit-with-toxic-smog-why-its-political/

Stubble burning the main reason for poor air in Delhi: HC
The Hindu, New Delhi, November 7, 2017
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/stubble-burning-the-main-reason-for-poor-air-in-delhi-hc/article19999044.ece

"Vikalp" on NDTV Prime Time
Unofficial English Translation of the PrimeTime news coverage on the scythe
Published on Nov 22, 2017
[translation of original broadcast on Nov 9, 2017]
https://youtu.be/9J2eUoRD8NY

Ravish Kumar Prime Time ; 9nov17 |
Air Pollution किसान है जिम्मेदार ? Vikalp Machine, Delhi Odd Even
Published on Nov 10, 2017
[original version as broadcast on Nov 9, 2017]
https://youtu.be/dky88Lf21PY

Harvesting Rice with a Scythe

"Using the scythe, we could easily manage to harvest between half to one acre of paddy in 6 hours of working thereby saving a considerable amount of time and effort."




Source:

Harvesting Paddy with a Scythe

Scythe Initiative in India - Video

"Contest" between scythe and sickle (from the video)

Here's a new video by Alexander Vido about his Scythe Project in India:

Sowing seeds for a scythe revolution

The following report was written by Sy Schotz about the recent introduction of scythes to India (population 1.25 billion). Some background: 80% of the farms in India are considered “Small” or “Marginal". The average size of land holdings is 1.3 hectares, and manual labor plays a large role. More than 50% of India's working population is involved with agriculture (compared with 2% for the USA, and 4% for Western Europe), and there are still shortages of agricultural labor.

Sowing seeds for a scythe revolution
by Sy Schotz

For one month in the spring of 2016, I had the opportunity to join Alexander Vido (of Scythe Works) in demonstrating the use of the scythe to harvest wheat in India, where the tool has been practically unknown. That country perhaps stands to gain more from the use of scythes than any other, because of the hundreds of millions of its farm workers who still harvest wheat and rice with sickles.  Replacing the sickle with the scythe would make it possible for crops to be harvested in a fraction of the time, besides being much easier on the bodies of the users. 

The seed of this scythe mission was sown in Alexander's heart ten years ago, when he first visited India. Moved by the living conditions of the lower classes, it struck him that the application of scythes could greatly improve many lives.  In 2011, he made his first attempt to introduce the scythe to farmers who'd only used sickles: the Scythe Project in Nepal (SPIN).  Despite his focus and dedication, SPIN failed in its purpose of putting the scythe to widespread use, due to a lack of common vision between Alexander and the local co-organizers.  

The redeeming value of SPIN came in the form of videos from that trip, which Alexander posted on youtube.  Three years later, one of those videos came to the attention of Vivek and Anant Chaturvedi, of Kanpur, India.  This father and son team are committed to rejuvenating the life of India's villages and helping to reverse the current trend of migration into cities.  They have already developed two appropriate technologies which could contribute to the quality of village life: a rice hull-powered generator, and an animal-powered deep well pump/fodder chopper.  They had nearly completed a third technology: a solar powered, hand-held, grain harvester.  This contraption was intended to be an alternative to the sickle, that is until Vivek saw a video of Alexander mowing wheat in Nepal, and dropped the 'solar harvester' project.  Instead, they tried to have a few scythes made, but none of the models were satisfactory.

Eventually, the Chaturvedis contacted Alexander when they learned that he and his son Gabriel were already in India.  Alexander and Gabriel were by then only a few days away from their flight home, having already spent six weeks visiting folks who had reached out in the aftermath of SPIN.  Impressed by the Chaturvedis attempts at manufacturing a scythe, Alexander decided to fly back to Delhi in order to leave time to travel another 500 km by car, through the night, to spend but one day at the Chaturvedis' farm in Kanpur.  It turned out to be the most fruitful day Alexander had yet spent in India or Nepal.

What followed, three months later, stands out as a dramatic success amongst other recent attempts to introduce this tool to third-world countries.

After Alexander returned to Canada, he remained in contact with the Chaturvedis, who hurriedly began preparing for an introduction of the tool during the upcoming wheat harvest.  Their ambition was to demonstrate the utility of the scythe to a select audience who might become trainers and distributors in their own regions.  While Anant waded into the bogs of Indian bureacracy, setting up a company to import scythes, Vivek arranged a full schedule of demonstrations across Northern and Central India. 

Our schedule began with an official 'launching' of the tool on the Chaturvedi farm. The press was lured to the event by the presence of Palikarji, a natural farming guru with more than 5 million followers, who endorsed the scythe and suggested its inclusion in his program of 'zero budget farming.'  The launch was covered in major Indian newspapers, and the scythe would be covered by the press a few more times over the course of the month-long tour. During demonstrations, thousands of people witnessed the tool in action, and many had a chance to try it out themselves.  On the last day of our trip the Minister of State of the Indian Department of Agriculture hosted a demonstration at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute.  A number of video clips from this trip have ‘gone viral,' including one of the minister excitedly trying out a scythe for the first time. Needless to say, the scythe is turning lots of heads in India, and elsewhere.

Alexander's dedication notwithstanding, this scythe introduction in India would not have taken place without the contribution of the Chaturvedis to our common vision, nor without Vivek's personal connections across Northern and Central India.  Finding similarly motivated partners in other 'scythe-needy' countries will be the key to reenacting this success story elsewhere.

-- Sy Schotz, 2016




Below is an excerpt from a follow-up email sent by co-organizer Anant Chaturvedi:

Now a month has passed since the extensive demos, and exhausting as the whole 'scythe tour' was, in hindsight it was necessary. The scythe received much deserved attention and respect as "the tool of the future" -- and we have been contacted by enthusiastic people from all over the country. Many, by the way, express dismay at the fact that it took so long for it to reach India...
 
Clearly, the hopes and excitement have been generated and now it is our responsibility to come up with a package which meets people's expectations and is easy on their pockets. For this to happen, much of the material has to be made with local materials and by local craftsmen. You will be happy to know that we have almost finalised prototypes of quite a few things like the snaths, jigs, ...and small items like the rings. These will be made locally and it is just a matter of time before things start rolling. This, we anticipate, will also take off as much as 25-30% of the costs. I must again thank Alexander for all the tips and guidance regarding the same.
 
I hope that we will keep building on the somewhat auspicious beginning to this venture and that the needy and marginal farmers of India reap the benefits of a tool which should have reached them decades ago.

-- Anant Chaturvedi, 2016

 

Sources:

Statistics on India's agriculture from Mechanization Trends in India, by Sanjeev Goyle, Mahindra and Mahindra, December 2013. 

Photos by Alexander Vido, used with permission.

Scythes go viral in India

Screenshot from recent video with 1.3 million views.

Scythes got a lot of attention this past month during the wheat harvest in northern India, thanks to Alexander Vido and Sy Schotz, who travelled there to demonstrate the cradle scythe at numerous villages. This short video was posted on April 1, and got over 1.3 million views in less than a month!

Link to the video

Scythe Initiative in India

Alexander Vido (of Scythe Works) was contacted by a number of enthusiastic people from various parts of India in response to his Scythe Project in Nepal, so he arranged a trip to "lend a hand" where he could. While there, he found that a cradle scythe could successfully harvest paddy rice, as long as it wasn't too ripe. He plans to return in the Spring for the wheat harvest in northern India, where he was invited to assist with the local adoption of scythes (instead of sickles) for the task.

A slideshow of his recent trip can be found at his Scythes in the Developing World site. Here are some samples:

Sources:
All photos from Alexander Vido, used with permission.

English Scythe "Secrets"

An article titled "Secrets of the Scythe" was published in the July 1938 issue of The Countryman magazine. Perhaps some forgotten aspects of the English scythe can be "rediscovered". Here are some excerpts:

On setting the tang of a new blade:

When a new scythe-blade is bought the tang is flat in the same plane
as the blade. If it were attached to the snath without any adjustment
it would be at a sharp angle to the ground, and the first essential is
that the sole should lie flat on the ground when the mower takes up
his stance. We must therefore take our new scythe to be hung by a
blacksmith...

The instructions regarding the swing (keep the blade level, without raising it at either end of the stroke) and the stance (shift weight from right foot to the left foot as the swing progresses) sound remarkably similar to how present-day "continental" scythes are typically used, although here the swing is limited to about 90 degrees:

Now about stance and swing. The mower stands with his feet about 
2 ft. 6ins. apart and facing slightly to the right of the line of the swathe
he is about to cut. He should balance on his toes, bending slightly
forward. 

The scythe should remain at the same height from the ground,
with the blade level throughout the cut. Swing the scythe to the right
until the point is in line with the shoulders, and take the cut by
swinging to the left, smoothly without slashing. 

As the weight of the body is transferred on to the left foot at the end of the swing,
advance the right foot about 5 ins. The left foot is advanced the same
distance on the return swing. This is what the countryman means when
he says, 'Keep the left foot back so as not to cut your leg'...

Both arms should be used equally during the swing. The
feeling to the mower should be that the left arm is drawing the blade
through the crop, while the right arm, supporting most of the weight,
holds the scythe balanced.

The full text of the article appears at this site and a PDF file can be downloaded there.

I obtained a physical copy of this issue of The Countryman, and the only information that doesn't appear in the PDF are three figures (redrawn below):

Figure 1 represents "the normal way of cutting a straightaway swathe", with the straight line being the edge of the standing crop (grass, etc.) Alternately, Figure 1 shows a way of cutting along a hedge, with the cut starting at the hedge and the swathe "laid against the uncut edge of the crop" (the straight line). Note that the resulting cut from each swing is effectively limited to 90 degrees.

Figure 2 shows a hypothetical semicircular swing, but this is not possible without "a change of stance, and therefore two cuts to each semi-circle."

Figure 3 shows the recommended way of cutting along a hedge into an uncut field, with two swaths.  At first, the cut is made along the hedge and the swathe deposited against the uncut edge of the crop (the straight line). Then, the mower "turn[s] and cut[s] the standing crop in the opposite direction, laying the second swathe on top of the first."

[Note: In the above descriptions, "swathe" is sometimes synonymous with "windrow"]

During the same year that this article was published in The Countryman (1938), a documentary film titled English Harvest was produced. Early in the film, an English scythe is used to open the field for harvesting by a horse-drawn reaper-binder.
 

Shown below is a book from 1899 containing an essay titled "The Decline of Harvest" which looks with disdain upon this type of self-binding reaping machine (as seen in the video), and recalls scythes with nostalgia:

...there can be nothing more saddening than the change which has come over the harvest field during the last 30 years. In the 'sixties it was no uncommon thing -- in spite of the gradual inroads which the mechanic and his machines had then made into rural industries -- to find a typical old English harvest scene in the corn-yielding districts. As you went about the land what time the air was fragrant with the scent of ripened barley, you came across some broad-acred field where the standing corn was being cut in the primitive fashion with scythe and sickle, and where the scene which almost every English landscape painter has striven to depict on canvas was apparent in its natural truth. You heard the swish of the scythe...

How different it all is nowadays! ...There is not at first sight a sign of life in the field. Then you are aware of a curious, whirring, rattling, peace-destroying sound on the other side of the still standing corn, and you see across its waving expanse the heads of horses, the heads of a couple of labourers, and with them a fanlike Thing which goes round and round and round, striking into the crop with mechanical regularity. You wait half-fascinated until the Thing approaches you, and as it draws nearer its roar and rattle becomes harsher and more terrifying.

...the advent of the "self-binder" has changed everything and to a certain extent the glory of the harvest time is over...  there are times when one experiences a feeling of vague, restless regret that the old things have passed away, and that the English harvest-field scenes of our grandfathers' days are not to be seen in ours.

The full text of The Decline of Harvest can be read here.



Addendum -- February 2, 2014:

The Phoenix Works (T. & J. Hutton & Co. Ltd.) was the last remaining scythe and sickle works operating in Britain until its closure in 1988. This company published an instructional booklet that appears at the Ridgeway History Website, and some photos from that site (from Frank Fisher's collection) are linked below:

 

Sources:

Video and low-resolution screenshot photo (showing details of English scythe with bow) from 1938 film "English Harvest" from Dufay-Chromex Ltd and attributed to Humphrey Jennings in the video description here.

Text from "Secrets of the Scythe" article from The Countryman journal issue of July 1938 was found here at newsgroups.derkeiler.com 
"Secrets of the Scythe", by L.D., The Countryman, Vol.XVII, No. 2, July 1938, p. 554-558. 
The Countryman, A Quarterly Non-Party Review and Miscellany of Rural Life and Work, 
Edited and Published by J.W. Robertson Scott at Idbury, Kingham, Oxfordshire.

"The Decline of Harvest" essay appears on page 156 of The Journal of the Society of Estate Clerks of Works, Volumes 12-13, by  the Society of Estate Clerks of Works, London, 1899 (essay attributed to "Morning Leader").  Full text of book can be read here.

Booklet and photos from the Phoenix Works appear at ridgewayhistory.org.uk in the article titled A History of the Phoenix Works by Tony Rippon, 2008.

Take-apart Travel Snath

Alexander Vido (of ScytheWorks) designed this compact snath for his recent travels to Nepal.


The two halves of the one-grip snath are coupled by a piece of 1-1/4" copper pipe, with a bolt holding each half in place.  Attached to the removeable grip is a hanger bolt which passes through both halves of the snath (note the diagonal joint) and secures the grip to the pipe. 

                                                                           

The grip can be attached to any of the three holes, making the snath adjustable to the user's height; and the orientation of the grip can be changed to make it suitable for right-handed and left-handed users (with the appropriate blade, of course).

In the photo below, Alexander demonstrates the use of this scythe to cut wheat, using a grain cradle that he also designed.  (More about this cradle in a future post.) 

Additional information about the Scythe Project in Nepal (SPIN) can be found here.  
An excellent video showing this scythe being demonstrated in Nepal can be found here.  


Kudos to Alexander for imagining, planning, and implementing this worthwhile project!


[All photos by Alexander Vido]

Reaping Rye, Wheat, Barley, Oats...

Here, stretched in ranks, the swelled swarths are found.
Sheaves heaped on sheaves here thicken up the ground. 

With sweeping stroke the mowers strew the lands— 

The gatherers follow and collect in bands; 

The rustic monarch of the field descries, 

With silent glee, the heaps around him rise." 

-- from Homer's "Iliad", A. Pope translation

All material quoted from:
The book of the farm: detailing the labors of the farmer, steward, plowman, hedger, cattle-man, shepherd, field-worker, and dairy maid, Volume 2,  by Henry Stephens, 1852,

Chapter 34 (page 373 onward)

In mowing, it is the duty of the mower to lay the cut corn [meaning "grain"] or swath at right angles to his own line of motion, and the straws parallel to each other...To maintain this essential requisite in corn [grain]-mowing, he should not swing his arms too far to the right in entering the sweep of his cut, for he will not be able to turn far enough round toward the left, and will necessarily lay the swath short of the right angle; nor should he bring his arms too far round to the left, as he will lay the swath beyond the right angle; and, in either case, the straws will lie in the swath partly above each other, and with uneven ends, to put which even in the sheaf is waste of time. He should proceed straight forward, with a steady motion of arms and limbs, bearing the greatest part of the weight of the body on the right leg, which is kept slightly in advance...The sweep of the scythe will measure about 7 feet in length, and 14 or 15 inches in breadth. 


The woman-gatherers follow by making a band from the swath, and laying as much of the swath in it as will make a suitable sheaf...The gatherer is required to be an active person, as she will have as much to do as she can overtake. The bandster follows her, and binds the sheaves in the manner already described, and any 2 of the 3 bandsters set the stooks  together, so that a stook is easily made up among them; and in setting them, while crossing the ridges, they should be placed on the same ridge, to give the people who remove them with the cart the least trouble. 


Last of all comes the raker, who clears the ground between the stooks with his large rake of all loose straws, and brings them to a bandster, who binds them together by themselves, and sets them in bundles beside the stooks. This is better than putting the rakings into the heart of a sheaf, where they will not thresh clean with the rest of the corn; and, moreover, as they may contain earth and small stones, and also inferior grain, from straws which may have fallen down before the mowing, it is better to thresh bundles of takings by themselves.


The figure [above] exhibits the 3 kinds of scythes in operation [along with the other workers doing the described tasks].

A scythesman will cut fully more than 1 imperial acre of wheat in a day. Many farmers affect to believe that the scythe is an unsuitable instrument for cutting wheat; but I can assure them, from experience, that it is as suitable as the sickle, and that mown sheaves may be made to look as well as reaped. No doubt mowing wheat is severe work, but so is reaping it. Of oats, 1 scythesman will mow fully 2 acres with ease. The oat crop is remarkably pleasant to handle in every way; its crisp straw is easily cut by the scythe, and being hard and free, and generally not too long, is easily bound in sheaf and set in stook. Nearly 2 acres may be mown of barley; but the gummy matter in the straw, which gives it a malty smell, causes the stone to be frequently used in mowing barley, and the straw being always free, the bands are apt to break when rashly handled in binding the sheaves.

One mode of setting up corn [grain] to dry quickly is in gaits, that is, the band of the sheaf is tied loosely round the straw, just under the corn, and the loose sheaf is made to stand upon the lower end of its straw being spread out in a circular form, and they are set upon every ridge. The wind whistles through the open sheaf, and even the rain passes through, and does not hang upon it. 


The expedient of gaiting, however, is only practiced in wet weather, and even then only should the crop, if allowed to stand, be endangered by a shaking wind. It is confined also to a particular kind of crop, namely, oats—wheat and barley never being gaited, because when wheat gets dry, after being cut in a wet state, it is apt to shake out in binding the gaits; and when barley is subjected to the rough usage of binding, after being won, the heads are apt to snap off altogether, and, besides, exposure in gaits would injure its color, and render it unfit for the maltster. Oats are protected by a thick husk, and the grain is not very apt to shake out in handling, excepting potato-oats, which are seldom gaited, the common kinds only being so treated. But, for my part, I would not hesitate to gait any sort of oats when wet with dew in the morning, or even when wetted with rain, rather than lose a few hours' work of reaping every morning, or at nightfall. 


Gaits, it is true, are very apt to be upset by a high wind; but after having got a set, it is surprising what a breeze they will withstand. After being blown down, however, they are not easily made to stand again, and then 3 at least are required to be set against each other; but whatever trouble the re-setting them should create, they should not be allowed to lie on the ground, and it will be found that a windy day dries them very quickly, and secures their winning.

Rye may be reaped or mown in the same manner as the other cereal crops. Its straw, being very tough, may be made into neat slim bands. It usually ripens a good deal earlier than the other grains; and its straw being clean and hard, does not require long exposure in the field, and on that account the stooks need not be hooded.

Beans in drills are reaped only with the sickle, by moving backward, taking the stalks under the left arm, and cutting every stalk through with the point of the sickle. When beans are sown by themselves straw ropes are required for bands; but when mixed with pease, the pea-straw answers the purpose. 


Beans are always the latest crop in being reaped, sometimes not for weeks after the others have been reaped and carried. In stooking, bean-sheaves are set up in pairs against one another, and the stook may consist of 4 or more sheaves, as is thought most expedient in the circumstances for the winning of the crop, the desire being to have them won as soon as possible, to get the land sown with wheat. 


Pease are also reaped with the point of the hook, gathered with the left hand, while moving backward, and laid in bundles, not bound in sheaves, until ready to be carried, and are never stooked at all.


-- Henry Stephens, 1852

Sheaves of Wheat in a Field,  Vincent Van Gogh, 1885

Sources:

The book of the farm: detailing the labors of the farmer, steward, plowman, hedger, cattle-man, shepherd, field-worker, and dairy maid, Volume 2,  by Henry Stephens, 1852,

Chapter 34 (page 373 onward)

Read online or download a .pdf with Google Books

Sheaves of Wheat in a Field, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1885
Place of creation: Nunen / Nuenen, Netherlands
from http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/vincent-van-gogh/sheaves-of-wheat-in-a-field-1885