Local folk in Kapangan, Benguet patiently await the rains to be able to plant rice seedlings in their rice paddies, which they said are planted to indigenous Cordillera rice varieties and “miracle rice” varieties alike.
BY LYN V. RAMO
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 19, June 17-23, 2007
KAPANGAN, BENGUET (250 kms. north of Manila)– Local folk here patiently await the rains to be able to plant rice seedlings in their rice paddies, which they said are planted to indigenous Cordillera rice varieties and “miracle rice” varieties alike.
The kintoman, bengawan, and tupel rice are among the indigenous rice varieties Kapangan farmers are still maintaining in their fields. Although these varieties take a longer time to harvest, local farmers here prefer it to the more high-yielding varieties because of it is not dependent on chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides.
Rosalyn Abelao, a Kapangan woman farmer, told Nordis that she does not buy commercial fertilizers for her rice field.
Bengawan, kintoman and tupel are grown for some five months before they could be harvested.
Harvesting involves the old fashioned scythe and sickle, she clarified. Just like in the past, the palay on stalks are bundled as in the olden days and pounded on the mortar with a pestle. There are more modern threshers and rice mills, but the Kapangan folk said, they only get a meager yield from the fields so they just pound the palay in their yards.
Seedbed preparation and sowing of seedlings usually fall in June when it starts to rain in the afternoons, according to Abelao. In July, farmers would start preparing the payew or rice paddies. They usually wait until the rainy season sets in because there is not enough water for irrigating the fields. November or December are harvesting months.
“Saan nga umanay ti apiten mi isunga, inton Marso wenno Abril, agrugi kamin a gumatang ti bagas” (Our harvest is not enough so that in March or April, we start buying rice), Dominga Impeso, a Tuba lass who married a man from Kapangan, added.
Impeso said there are farmers who also plant the miracle rice varieties which take only four months to harvest. Those who plant these, however, are forced to use commercial fertilizers and pesticides.
“Adda met laeng dagiti nangpadas ti high-yielding varieties ngem saan latta nga maiyannatop ti kapulan na a panag-aywan” (There are those among us who tried the high-yielding varieties but they could not give the needed amount of care), Abelao said.
She added the farmers are used to the indigenous varieties which do not need much care. “Umanay laeng ti agkamas kami kada dua a domingo wenno mamingsan iti makabulan” (It is enough that we weed out the fields every two weeks or even once a month), she said.
Impeso said the rice fields cannot give any second crop because there are not enough water for irrigation. The women said even the Bangkawatan, a river, gets dry in March and only begins to have water in June.
Women farm workers in Kapangan get P120 ($2.58 based on an exchange rate of $1:P46.39 as of June 15) to P150 ($3.23) per day of work in the rice fields while their male counterparts get P200 ($4.31). The workload given to men, who usually plow the fields, explains the difference in pay.
“Narigat ti danum ditoy” (Water is scarce here), Impeso said. She said residents usually dig shallow wells along the river just to get water to wash clothes with.
When there are no more rains to irrigate the rice fields, farmers in Kapangan start switching to vegetables. “No adda ti pagpuunan” (If there is money to finance it), Abelao quips. Her husband usually plants beans, bell peppers, cucumbers for commercial purposes. Eggplants, ampalaya (bitter gourd) and tomatoes are usually for community consumption only. Lowland fruit trees like papaya, mangoes, star apple and others are also found aplenty in the area.
Nordis informants said not all rice fields are planted to vegetables. Some are left to fallow and weeds grow until the next rainy season.
Although there are some fields presently devoted to temperate vegetables in greenhouses, most Kapangan farms are rain-fed, according to our respondents.
Kapangan town in Benguet is peopled by some 3,500 indigenous Ibaloy, Kankanaey and Kalanguya tribes. In 2000 its population was some 18,000 people. Its proximity to the lowland province of La Union explains the warm weather of the municipality even as its mountainous terrain is part of the Cordillera highlands. Northern Dispatch / Posted by(Bulatlat.com)
