Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure
1.12.
Lamp on slatted bamboo floor.
fetches the carabao. This routine is disrupted only when he gets the opportunity to work
somewhere off the farm such as on a construction job.
The family usually eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner together, except when farm-
work interferes. At times Donio cannot join the family for breakfast when he cannot
return early enough from the farm. During planting, weeding, and harvest season,
the family cannot have lunch together when Donio, Sita, and Nano work in other
farms. They are, however, mostly together during dinner. Their usual meal consists
of either a combination of fish, ginamos (salted fish paste), buwad (dried fish), and
utan (vegetables). Sita prepares breakfast and cares for a female carabao and its
3-month-old calf. Daughter Genedina helps in the household chores during weekends
when she is not in school.
For the most part, except for rice and maize grain, any purchased food is fresh
every day and immediately eaten because Donio and Sita have no way to store food.
People selling fish or meat or other food items will pass by the house every day
making their produce easily available. There are some exceptions to this general situ-
ation. Dried fish and to a lesser extent beef, which may be stored without refrigeration,
may be available. After dinner at about 6 p.m., they watch TV at Donio's brother's
house, who is a neighbor.
Farm Tools.
Donio owns simple farm tools; a plow (daro) (Fig. 1.10), harrow
(sudlay) (Fig. 1.11), one single weeding machine, one double weeding machine
(Fig. 1.8 inset), and one maize field harrow (calcag) (Fig. 1.11) made of iron. An iron
plow like Donio's costs about P1,500 ($28.54). An iron harrow costs about P1,300
($24.73). A single weeding machine is P350 ($6.66) and a double one is P500 ($9.51).
Donio rents other farm implements like a tractor and a thresher as needed; see Figure 1.13.
