Posted on 01/27/2021 7:25:09 AM PST by texas booster
A mountain's thin air and rocky soil can make it an inhospitable place to grow crops. But for all the challenges these conditions present farmers with, they can reward them in equal measures, such as with cold temperatures, dry air, and reduced dependence on pesticides.
Actually going to market, however, requires hauling one's produce down the mountain—a task not for the faint of heart. In some tea-growing regions of Southeast Asia, the quickest way is via the biggest motor vehicles that can maneuver down mountainous trails: Motorcycles.
Recent videos uploaded to social media show farmers traversing the treacherous terraces of a tea plantation on bikes, which offer a brief overview of high-altitude tea growth. In these clips, farmers ride a small fleet of Suzuki GN125Hs; entry-level "standard" bikes with upright riding positions, five-speed chain drives, and single-overhead-cam, air-cooled one-cylinder engines. Their simplicity of use makes them ideal for transporting bundles of tea down paths where even a moment's distraction could spell disaster.
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Whatever the case, it's impressive just how brave these farmers are for eloquently riding their motorcycles along these narrow passages. In some cases, they have to stop and back up for three-point turns, and sometimes even employ the help of others to hold the bikes from behind so they don't fall down the mountain.
There are many crops that grow in inhospitable places around the world that require dangerous collecting methods, but this one is definitely up there in terms of risk. Just think about that next time you sip on a hot cup of tea.
When I worked in China in the mid 70s, I was astonished at how they would use labor over machines. They had some large construction machinery that was always put to low value uses so they could keep people employed. They cast a large concrete pedestal for a smokestack too high (it was about ten feet in diameter and eight feet high solid concrete).. Instead of using tractor-mounted jackhammers to tear it down and start over, they assigned a big team of men to use hammers and homemade chisels (made out of rebar) to manually chisel the pedestal down a couple of feet. I saw this over and over.
Seconded!
No, but I did notice the red arm guards on her forearms to protect her skin.
I'm guessing the land is cheap to farm because it's so inaccessible - and has nothing to do with 'pesticides' or lack of same...
Good reminder about the scrap box
China has a problem - too many people.
The world has a problem - China has too many people!
Thanks for the tip. I used to use tinypic, and when they closed down, I didnt bother updating. I’ll look into www.imgbb.com when I get a round tuit.
China has no problems with Biden in the WH. It’s the USA that has the problem for at least the next four years
A. They aren’t Swiss.
B. That would create scores of unemployed idle hands, unpaid idle hands who now can’t afford food.
Hungry idle people are dangerous...
Cheaper to do what they are doing.
You could not grow enough tea to provide the money required for 8-10 miles of cable, bring in electrical power to drive the motors and the gearing for the system, 200 tons of concrete, the money to hire engineers to design your cable system, money for people to run and maintain it, etc.
$800 for a motor bike and $30 gas means that all those people keep working and at the end of the day you have profit!
You might say they think they have a 'Manifest Destiny' to expand from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic.
There are people living there already?
Sucks to be them, they say, without reservations...
You silly practical American! You want to take all the fun and adventure out of their lives?
Plus you aren’t running it 365 days a year. How long does the tea leaf harvest last? Probably not very long. Maybe two or three harvests a year? It would never pay out as you say.
Damn, I almost fell off my chair.......LOL!
The tea farm shown is in Taiwan
Maybe they could use manpower or animal power to keep a simple gondola system moving. That couldn’t be any more tedious than driving those dangerous switchbacks all day.
My China reference was in response to 353FMG post #28
Given that context, is there anything I said that is untrue?
no, someone else wanted to know where the farm was. Yours was the last post in the thread.
Ah. Thanks!
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