Hues of the harvest

Young green grasses and mature yellow stalks form a multi-tinted tessellation on the terraces of Tư Lệ, a fertile farming region of northern Vietnam. We're up in the mountains far from the mighty Mekong River, which powers the massive rice-growing economy on the nation's southern floodplain. Here in the north, growers channel rain and runoff to irrigate their rice in a carefully engineered system. This high-elevation agriculture may require more planning, but here there's no need to fear saltwater intrusion that threatens crops in the Mekong Delta.