Day 22 - Sparkly wellingtons

The Wellington boots I own have been with me since my undergraduate years in London and facilitated many field adventures over the course of 10 years. Fieldwork in Horowpothana would be challenging without my wellingtons to support me through the muddy terrains. Even today, as my host was planning on visiting all her cultivation lands and getting ready to get into the muddy paddy lands, I too grabbed my Wellingtons, and we headed to the field.

We visited the paddy field under Attulawewa today, and the immediate view was a soothing green colour for as far as you can see with paddy pods ripening in every plant. As I was admiring the field, my host tasked me with a job. Apparently there is a type of fly that feeds on paddy seeds. My job was to walk around the field and use my hand to slowly brush against the plants to see if there were any flies. After a thorough inspection, I was happy to report that there were no flies.

However, this also raises the question of the effectiveness of the pesticides that we use daily to protect our crops. While it's reassuring that I didn't find any flies, it makes me wonder if the pesticides are truly doing their job or if we might need to explore more sustainable methods of pest control in the future. The answer might be in the past.