On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 12:12:30 -0500, Katra
wrote:

In article ,
Gerry wrote:

Yes the fields are flooded, but only the part of the year that the
rice is actually growing. I have heard that in Viet Nam some farmers
use blue-green algae to add nitrogen to the soil at this stage, but I
can't confirm if that is true.

The time that the fields are fallow in the farms I am thinking of in
Thailand is during the dry season. It doesn't rain for months and it
is really quite hot, especially in the sun as these fields are. It
is quite a different set of circumstances from when I plant hairy
vetch in my garden for the winter in New York!

Anyway, thanks for the tip on cress. I will look into that.
Meanwhile does the new information about the conditions bring any
ideas to anyone's mind?

Thanks


Alfalfa?

That is a legume crop so would add nitrogen back to the soil, and is
very valuable as a livestock feed. They used to grow it when I lived in
California in the Mojave desert. Might need some irrigation, but should
not be too bad.

I'm interested in hearing ideas from others. ;-)

K.

Alfalfa is not a very likely to be a candidate. It requires a LOT of
water and was likely grown in the Mojave in winter with highly
subsidized irrigation water. If the Thai's had "free" water, they
could grow a number of things, non least of which would be a second
crop of wet rice.