Rice laid out to dry in Dhamrai, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Have a rice day. Rice processing in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, a nation that's never recorded a freezing temperature, rice growing is a year-round affair. But growing an aquatic crop in the dry season – October through March – is complicated, requiring high-yield plant strains and additional irrigation.

Drying the grains is more straightforward, though – As these workers spread rice thinly over a large field, heat from the Sun warms it and the surrounding air, creating an arid environment to vapourise moisture within the grains. It's tough, toasty work – and important to boot, given that rice is the staple for the more than 160 million people who live in this South Asian nation.