ZIRO VALLEY, Arunachal Pradesh — The end of April is planting time for the women of the Apa Tani tribe. Their 50-square-kilometer valley is a meticulously groomed jewel of green conservation, compared to the flood-beset Assam plains below or the slash-and-burn plots that neighboring tribes cultivate in the shrinking forests of the surrounding hills.

Here in Ziro Valley, teams of rice planters have already finished the annual refurbishment of the intricate network of interlinked irrigation channels. Now women laboriously transplant rice seedlings by hand, one at a time, in the paddy fields. Sun-wrinkled grandmas, adorned with traditional face tattoos and nose plugs, bend to the task. Crouching right alongside them, their giggly granddaughters sport knock-off designer sweaters.

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