Carabaos star in 2-km town parade

PULILAN, BULACAN— Technology may have helped improve farming but it has not replaced carabaos, 700 of which were honored on Sunday in this year’s Carabao Festival here.

The carabaos, garbed in colorful fabrics or painted in bright colors, were displayed on the feast of the town’s patron saint, San Isidro Labrador.

The water buffalos were brought in from Bulacan and other provinces in Central Luzon to join a 2-kilometer parade that began in Barangay Lumbak and ended at the parish church in Barangay Paltao here.

As each beast reached the church, it was made to kneel at the prodding of its owner and hundreds of revelers.

Making carabaos kneel was a practice started nearly a century ago as farmers paid tribute to their patron saint for the year’s abundant harvest and for protecting their rice fields from calamities.

Adriano Ignacio, 61, a farmer from Barangay Balatong B, said he made his carabao kneel by pulling a string connected to its horn and nose.

Higher yield

Farmers have much to be thankful for in this year’s festival, Ignacio said, adding that they produced as much as 250 cavans a hectare, up from their average yield of 120 cavans.

Pulilan Mayor Maria Rosario Ochoa-Montejo said farmers had accepted new technology to enhance their farming and yield.

They have agreed to use hybrid rice and to pilot an organic farming system introduced by the Department of Science and Technology.

About 2,000 hectares of farmland in the town are dedicated to rice production.

“They had a bountiful harvest last March and they would continue adopting the hybrid rice and organic farming. We wish to attain the high yield of farmers in Nueva Ecija,” Montejo said.

Ignacio grew up in an agricultural family, although he preferred a job overseas. But 18 years as a migrant worker proved to be a career disappointment for him.

He returned to farming and for the last 12 years, he had been profiting from his farm and carabaos.

Farm conversion

Mechanization introduced during the time of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos has reduced the work load of farm animals, according to Ildefonso Canquin, president of the Bulacan farmers’ federation.

But some farmers still use carabaos in areas that tractors could not reach.

What threatens the carabaos is not mechanization but the massive conversion of farmlands into industrial zones or residential areas, said Noel Mauricio, 57, president of the Pulilan farmers’ association.

These days, the 11 carabaos owned by Ignacio serve as dairy animals. He wakes up at 4 a.m. to take the carabaos to the rice field to feed on grass. At 10 a.m., he brings them back to their corals to be bathed.

“We have 24 farmers with carabaos that are intended for milking,” Mauricio said. “We are developing our carabao center here.”

Ignacio’s wife, Estellita, said demand was high for carabao milk. A small bottle of carabao milk sells for P25 while a liter of milk sells for P75.