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The people of the empire are actually quite sophisticated farmers. They have had to be to survive in many of the places where they existed. They understand irrigation and have a good neck collar for harnessing livestock to the heavy tasks.
The man (or woman) who has the farmer vocation is no common agricultural worker. He/She is trained as a land owner or manager and is well versed in choosing and managing a crop from the choosing of seeds to the management of the harvest.
The life of an arable farmer, his labourers and his family
Harvest time was a time of intense labor involving most of the community. Government land is usually harvested as a part of the owed labour tithe (or scutage) by each family. People worked from sunrise to sunset, taking occasional breaks for drinking and eating. If they were working as a labourer for somebody else, an overseer would see to it they did not dawdle.
Sickles were used to cut the plants and the produce was left on the ground. Gathering up the produce was an unpopular job as it involved much bending and is almost exclusively performed by children and the local infirm. Donkeys or cattle would be used to transport the produce to the threshing floor or storage buildings whenever they were available but often in the Su'ndi continent conditions make even the donkey a luxury beast and strong men were hired to do the work instead.
Grain was threshed by driving cattle or sheep over the piled grain, sweeping away the straw and winnowing the grain by letting the wind carry off the lighter chaff. Sorting the grain was often women's work as throughout the Su'ndari empire women tend to be employed in tasks that can be performed away from the blistering sun.
The grain and produce is stored in walled enclosures, carefully plaster-coated on the inside and whitewashed on the outside. In order to store the grain, the worker has to climb stairs to a small window near the top of the cone, carrying baskets. Through a little door at the bottom the grain or produce can be taken out as needed.
