Banaue Rice Terraces

Banaue Rice Terraces

Location: Province of Ifugao Map

The Banaue Rice Terraces are a major tourist attraction in the Philippines.

They lie in a mountainous landscape about 1500 meters above sea level and cover almost 10 km² of mountain slopes. About two thousand years ago, the Austronesian inhabitants of this area began to build rice fields. To this day, cultivation continues on slopes with gradients of up to 70 degrees. There are fields that are only two meters wide. The Bontoc, other inhabitants of the region, continued the construction by fortifying the earth with stone walls. The terraces are considered to be the oldest structure in the entire Philippines.

To this day, rice and vegetables are grown on the terraces by local people, although more and more younger Ifugaos are finding farming unattractive and opting for the more lucrative tourism industry that has developed through the rice terraces. This leads to a gradual erosion of the characteristic stages, which require regular cultivation and care. The giant worm (“Olang” in Ifugao) of the genus Pheretima or Polypheretima elongata, as well as rats of the genus Chrotomis mindorensis and snails also contribute to erosion.

The rice terraces, along with four other sites, have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995 and were added to the List of International Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks by the American Society of Civil Engineers in the same year.

 

Ifugao rice terraces

The main agriculture of the Ifugao people is animal husbandry and rice growing. The Ifugao people created a wet rice culture based on terrace farming. Livestock for the Ifugao people develops with raising livestock such as goats and pigs on hillsides and mountains. The Ifugao people can also use terraced fields to develop livestock. Wet rice plants on terraced fields require convenient irrigation systems to provide for the growth of rice plants and protect the fertility of the land.

The rice fields of the Ifugao people deserve their position as one of the wonders of the world. These are mountains of land conquered by the Ifugao people with altitudes from 700 meters to 1500 meters. Some narrow fields have been exploited and constructed by the Ifugao people to suit the land here. The terraced fields seem to have been built, surrounding the flat surfaces of the mountainside. In the areas inhabited by the Ifugao people, nature here is considered the purest, the river bottoms are rough rocks, in the areas inhabited by the Silipanes (a group of the Ifugao people) the banks of terraced fields embanked with cracked stones, linked together to form durable banks. Terraced fields of various sizes and varying heights are created by the Ifugao people everywhere. In Benaue, terraced fields seem to grow vertically. Some published documents claim that in Benaue the terraced fields have a height of 2.1 meters above the lower step, which is a bit of an overstatement. The truth is that the highest fields in Benaue are about 1.5 meters; But in most of the terraced fields of the Ifugao people, people must rely on favorable factors before proceeding. These are lands that can be put to use on the basis that the surrounding areas can be irrigated. The total number of labor needed to clear the fields in the surrounding areas and their economic value. Irrigation is the first and most important issue when putting that land into use. In terrace farming, the Ifugao people have a clear understanding of exemplary water irrigation regimes. Their understanding of water technology, combined with their stone-laying skills and hand-made tools, allowed them to establish extraordinary irrigation systems to supply water to terraced fields. Ifugao terraced fields are banked with sturdy and solid stone walls with an average height of 0.3 meters built into natural curves. Because the circulation of the irrigation system carries water from the bottom of the valley to the top of the mountain, the Ifugao people can bring water to the foot of terraced fields on the highest peaks, which is different from the way water is brought into the fields. The terraces of the Hmong people in Sa Pa, Lao Cai, Vietnam are irrigation systems based on natural rainwater sources and natural extrusion water systems at the foot of the fields. Ifugao dams can be removed or moved with stones weighing many tons. The irrigation system is made of smart stone grooves and bamboo sticks split in half to form water troughs, connected together and surrounding the field.

 

Planting

September or October is the time to prepare for planting on the terraced fields of the Ifugao people. After repairing the water pipes, the fields with a depth of water level covering the heel of the foot and soft soil are ideal fields for planting. The water is then drained, at which point the field surface has a few centimeters of water above it. Throughout the year, the fields are submerged under water. Even after harvesting the rice, the water is not drained, allowing other plants to continue growing. These are the factors that make the soil better with mounds where rotting plants make the soil porous.

The terraced fields are prepared for planting 2 to 4 weeks after the soil is refreshed. Planting begins in Kianga in early December and continues until mid-March. For a few years, planting was delayed because of floods.

Usually in early December, the seeds are planted, the sowers sometimes have to set up shacks in the fields to protect the newly sown rice seeds, avoiding rats and wild boars. The rice seeds after planting grow very quickly, which is also the time when the fields wait for rain.

Following the planting is the weeding stage, this is the time when field activities are closely associated with women. Women can clean the field surface by uprooting plants from the field. They can also uproot parasitic plants and bury them in mud, which as they decay makes the soil more fertile. All fields are done this way several times. When the rice plants begin to take root in the soil and grow, the rice plants that grow evenly are selected by the Ifugao people, and the rice plants with leaves shorter than normal growth are eliminated. At the same time, the irrigation ditches will be cleaned of grass and trash. At this time, the number of workers increased to take care of the fields.

 

Kill bugs

Rice is subject to many types of insects and pests. When fields are infested with insects, they are immediately pulled up, burned and thrown out to dry in the sunlight. In cases where fields are discovered with a very bad pest condition, it is certainly related to supernatural forces and rituals must be performed. They believe that insects originate from a powerful force called Bangawan. Upon request, Bangawan will have to sacrifice animals. For the Hmong people in Sa Pa, Lao Cai province - Vietnam, during the period of rice cultivation being destroyed by insects, the Hmong people often think that it is caused by evil ghosts, but they do not think that it is the destruction of insects. bug. At this time, the Hmong people will conduct a ceremony to worship the living area: burn a few incense sticks and paper and sprinkle them evenly on the pest-infested fields. It is thought that doing so will prevent pests from destroying the crops.

 

Harvest

Harvesting includes cutting off vegetation that is 20 cm lower than the tip of the ripe rice shoots. The ripe rice is then tied into bundles by the Ifugao people using bamboo strips or gaddang rope, and then they Carry each small bundle up to the granary. The types of scythes used by the Ifugao people are the ua with a small blade, held firmly in the hand, placed at an obtuse angle of 25 degrees from the palm, the second type is the scythe of the Ilokano and Gaddang regions, consisting of a The blade is used perpendicular to the hand and held firmly, the leaves are placed in front of the palm. When cutting, people just need to turn the pick upside down to be able to cut the rice tops.

When the granary is filled, the rice is left there for about two weeks, then the rice is left to dry until a respectful ceremony is held. Sacrificial rituals and practices are practiced by the Ifugao people to show their respect to their ancestors, and at the same time they feel secure with the increasing amount of grain.

 

Eat new rice

Harvest time is the holiest time for all Ifugao people, regardless of whether they are the elderly, women, children, or men in their community. Harvest time is a cycle of meals with lots of food and seemingly endless jars of distilled rice wine. For the poor Ifugao people, harvest time is truly days of living in happiness, eating, drinking and sharing. For young people, they can sing, drink, confide, and enjoy delicious food. At that time, the sun was hot and shone terribly hot rays, but they were still happy. During the harvest days. Married men and women work together and converse and make witty remarks and occasionally sing together. Young men and unmarried women form a cheerful group, singing songs about love and work, shouting and laughing in improvisation.

 

Ifugao rice terraces seen from a social perspective

For the Ifugao people, rice plays a very important role, sometimes it is considered more important than any other food. In traditional as well as modern society, the Ifugao people have established a solid society based on rice culture. Rice is considered the center of exchange and trade, representing the strength and source of life of this ethnic group. Ifugao society is a sustainable society closely linked to the growth of rice plants and closely linked to harvests. Although the harvest output is still small compared to the real value of labor. The products of rice and the construction of thousands of kilometers of terraced fields along with sophisticated irrigation systems have long been the pride of the Ifugao people. From a social perspective, it is an expression of the tight organizational structure and connection of this ethnic group. From the perspective of spiritual culture according to the Ifugao people's concept, the help of gods and spirits has helped them turn high mountains and deep abysses into flat surfaces and lush fields, allowing them to prosperity and autonomy in a country where political factors are often unstable. With such great significance, the type of terraced rice farming of the Ifugao people in the Philippines was recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site in 1995.

In the past, the transfer and sale of terraced fields was very rare, excluding inheritance, but today the transfer and sale of terraced fields is taking place more and more frequently. The Ifugao custom is to give the buyer a party where relatives of both the buyer and the seller can come. The buyer and his relatives will then give gifts to the seller. These gifts can be brooches or long knives that are frequently given items. later it's money. Both buyers and sellers then participate and pray for the transformation of this field to bring bountiful harvests, in addition to praying for rats, insects, and pests. Crop damage will not destroy the seasons, and the crops year after year will be lush and bountiful. Relatives of both the seller and buyer will testify to this transfer. Gifts for the seller's relatives depend on their requirements in creating content as well as building trust in the future. It may become necessary, those close to the seller. In Kiangan the value of a central acre of rice terraces with adequate water supply is usually 500,000 pesos. In Piuong or Amgana, where lands are not yet occupied and not capable of irrigation, the value is usually 80,000 pesos. In Jaliap, Bolog or in new cities formed by migration, the value is usually 250,000 pesos. In Kianga, an area in the center of the farming area can be cleared for additional fields, the value of which is usually 6 to 12 times that of the lands at the edge.

Based on scientific documents of a number of foreign scholars on the terraced field farming of the Ifugao ethnic group in the Philippines and comparison with the terraced fields of the Hmong people in Sa Pa and Lao Cai, we see that this is a unique type of farming with many similarities in Southeast Asia. Terraced fields are not only a traditional agricultural activity to feed people, but there are also many related cultural, social, religious and belief factors surrounding this type. Deeply understanding a common but very specific economic activity of some ethnic groups living on sloping land in Southeast Asia is a truly interesting scientific problem.