Snake in paddy field good for food chain

BEIJING, July 25 -- I am growing rice again this year on a plot of mountain land that I lease. I weeded the paddy the other day during a break in the tsuyu rainy season. As I bent down and looked closely, I could see all sorts of small aquatic life around the roots of the rice plants. Tadpoles wriggled away and diving beetles scuttled off in panic, but water striders glided over the water as if nothing could ever bother them. There were dragonfly larvae, too. They will soon be flying around to herald the arrival of summer in this mountainous land. There are various traditional sayings about rice farming, and many concern animals. For instance, a paddy where snakes live is said to be a good paddy. Such a paddy is heavily populated by frogs, which eat insects that harm the crops, but are themselves eaten by snakes. Rice grows... [read full story]