The rice seedlings are protected by two layers of iron fences. After two weeks, they were ready to be transplanted.

Le Duy Ham (left), director of the Institute for Agricultural Genetics, exchanged with the institute’s experts before transplanting the rice seedling. Ham is among the first scientists to care for the “3000-year-old” rice paddies.

Old rice paddies have sprouted to become seedlings 20cm high, good for being transplanted.

The seedlings have over 10cm-long roots.

Before transplanting the seedlings, scientists took off the husks…

… which are dark brown.

Ham noted that defining the age of these husks is extremely important because it is key to verifying the lifespan of these rice paddies.

Seedlings after the husks are taken off.

Each seedling is transplanted into a different bucket and numbered.

Each seedling is transplanted into a different bucket and numbered.

Dr. Pham Xuan Hoi, who has kept track of the seedlings, observed that only five seedlings were transplanted. They will yield rice in the next five months. Rice husks are also numbered.

They will be tested by AMS method, the most modern technology to define the age of items. This process will take 5-6 months.