Matthias Vollmer, Stephie Pfenninger

Vietnam is the second largest rice exporting country after Thailand. Surprisingly this production is achieved within traditional, small scale structures (most farms are less than one hectare). This grid of small fields formulates a kind of 'genetic code' engraved in the entire Red River Delta territory. Almost no modern technology or mechanical equipment is used. While the whole country is in a frenzy of modernization and development the farmer still continues his task – and mostly meagre lifestyle – in a almost spiritual contemplation. It seems at first glance as if the traditional ways of cultivating the territory remain unaffected by the booming urbanization. Yet it is more than likely that the continuous overwriting of the rural 'base code' not only extracts land from the agricultural territorial system but affects its inner logics as well.