Definition

1. Verb (Agriculture):
   • To plough (land) when it is dry and fallow: The primary meaning refers to the agricultural practice of ploughing a field, specifically a rice paddy, when it is drained of water and left to dry. This process aerates the soil, breaks up clods, and allows it to become friable (crumbly) in preparation for planting.
   • To summer-plough / to plough fallow land: It describes the action of tilling land during a fallow period, often to improve soil structure, eliminate weeds, and allow weathering.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Nông dân đang cày ải ruộng để chuẩn bị cho vụ mới. (The farmers are ploughing the fallow field to prepare for the new crop.)
  • "Thứ nhất cày ải, thứ nhì rải phân." ("First, plough the land loose; second, spread the manure.")
  • Cày ải giúp đất tơi xốp và diệt mầm bệnh. (Ploughing fallow land helps loosen the soil and kills pathogens.)

Advanced Usage

• The term is deeply rooted in traditional wet-rice cultivation cycles. It implies a specific, purposeful stage of field preparation where the soil is deliberately dried and broken up, contrasting with ploughing flooded paddies.

Variants and Related Words

• Cày (v): to plough, to till. The general action of ploughing.

  • Họ cày ruộng bằng trâu. (They plough the field with buffalo.)

• Đất ải (n): fallow land; land that has been ploughed and left to dry and weather.

  • Đất ải sẽ màu mỡ hơn. (Fallow land will become more fertile.)

Synonyms

• To fallow-plough: to plough land during a fallow period.
• To dry-plough: to plough land when it is dry.
• To summer-till: to till land in the summer or dry season.

Related Idioms

• The phrase is a traditional Vietnamese agricultural proverb. It is an idiom in itself, emphasizing the crucial, ordered steps in preparing a field for cultivation.

1. Plough (the ground) loose
   • Thứ nhất cày ải thứ nhì rải phân
     First plough the soil loose, second dress (manure) it