Farming Activities 做农活

The hottest few days in the year are also called the Major Heat according to traditional Chinese culture. Due to high temperatures, crops grow rather quickly during this time. ‘The Major Heat’ is also a period when droughts and floods happen frequently. Therefore, it’s important to harvest and plant in time in order to avoid natural disasters.

For regions where rice is harvested two times a year, during Major Heat is the most nervous and hard period of a year. People have to harvest the early season rice and plant the late season rice in time. If they harvest the early season rice on time, they can reduce damages caused by rains and winds, have a good harvest and the late season rice has a better chance of doing well. The planting should be done before the end of July. In the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang River, the Major Heat is a time of summer droughts. There is a saying in this region which goes “The rain in Minor Heat is as precious as silver; while the rain in Major Heat is as precious as gold.” People should irrigate as soon as there is any sign of droughts in order to avoid damages to crops. For cottons, the soil moisture content should be between 70% and 80%. If it’s below than 60%, the soil should be irrigated immediately. Meanwhile, people should avoid irrigating at noon.

For southern China, the Major Heat is with the period with the most sunshine and highest temperature. Due to frequent storms, it’s also a period with plenty of rainfall. Relatively high temperature is good for the growth of crops. But if the temperature is too high, the growth of crops will be affected or even harmed. People in this region should prepare against floods.