Khets are flat, level fields surrounded by raised borders to prevent water running away, generally used for growing one crop of rice a year, and sometimes used for other crops at other times of year. What you can see in them here is the stubble left after rice has been harvested. They’re actually flooded when the rice is growing, of course. Just now they’re dry as a bone.
Huge areas of India are devoted to khets like these. They’re generally levelled by manual labour, and the effort involved is considerable – especially in hillier areas than this. My in-laws’ farm is in a much hillier area, with quite big differences in level between one khet and the next – but not really quite terraces like those you can see near the middle of my photo of the Himalayan foothills.
Water harvesting involves building barriers like these to prevent water running off, thereby encouraging the water to soak into the ground and replenish the underlying aquifers.
Seen from the train.
©Clive K Semmens 2005