[lovemenot]

Definitely not the case. At least here in Japan, right now the seeds are large, but the fields are mostly not flooded. I believe the reason for flooding the seedlings is to crowd out weeds, which unlike rice are unable to get established.

[richdougherty]

I guess that's why the article says at the end "The primary barrier to entry for farmers is a 500,000 rupiah ($33) weeding machine."

[lostlogin]

That’s really sad. A massive productivity boost being missed for a cost that low.

[worldsayshi]

Sounds like a good case for cap n trade, if there's any trust left to be had in that system.