Rice is a staple food to almost every Filipino home in the Philippines.
In some cases, when a family income is not sufficient to feed a family, rice is eaten in many creative ways: rice with coffee, rice with salt, rice with soy sauce, rice with bagoong (fermented fish paste) to name a few.
Because rice is very important to most Filipinos, cultivation of this food is valued from the time of the early ancestors.
The introduction of carabao (water buffalo) that was imported from China in the mid-1500 helped the Filipinos to work with it to produce rice from farmlands. Carabaos are priced animals in the farm.
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It was speculated that the word carabao originated from Visayan word karabaw which was apparently from kerbau, the Malaysian and Indonesian local name for the water buffalo.
Water buffalo is esteemed in the country because of its usefulness in farming.
In fact, it is not only used in farming but also used as a means of transportation in the countryside.
With the increasing demand of rice but slow rate of production, small time farmers must think of a better option because they cannot afford to buy tractors.
In 1975, a machine called kuliglig was invented and has been used in farmlands as an alternative to carabao until now. A carabao needs to rest for about 2 hours in a day. The hard work in the field is too heavy for it to work continuously.
Kuliglig is a Filipino term that refers to an insect called cicada in English.
Kuliglig or hand tractor is an alternative to pricey farm tractors. For small time farmers who just usually tend a small piece of farmland or lease lands, kuliglig is the best alternative to carabao.
Kuliglig or hand tractor is powered by diesel; it is controlled by the user. Unlike the carabao, it does not need a long break before it can work again as long as it is in good condition.
Similar to the carabao, kuliglig can be used to plow the ricefield, used as means of transportation for people and for transporting farm goods from field to town or to home.
