At the heart of the world's largest rice-exporting country, Mr Maniet Yamnet is bent from morn till set of scorching sun, his straw hat offering scant shelter as he tends to his field of green shoots.

Hunched over, he must wade across a 21-rai expanse of muck - about the size of about three football fields, or 33,600 sq m - just yanking weeds from his crop for five hours straight.

Read Jessica Lim's full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times!