The Thinking Beans

The majestic rice terraces of the Philippines were made many years ago by the Ifugaos and have been listed as one of the wonders of the world. Terraces were formed from the sloping mountains done manually and were planted with lowland rice. This has become a cultural heritage for the Ifugaos and a pride for the Philippines.

Although it is sad to know that these terraces are not being maintained anymore like it was before. People prefer to leave the mountains and choose to work in the city rather than to cultivate land and produce food for the country. If only this can still become a good source of rice, the country might have not suffered a very expensive price for a kilo of rice. There would have been enough rice served at every Filipino dining table to date. Sadly, even people living near the terraces are suffering rice shortage.

Modernization has made the native farm practices be forgotten. Come to think of it, before, when manual labor was dominant, these terraces were maintained and not a single terrace was neglected. But with the advent of fertilizers and other modernization, it seems that the terraces were not being taken care of by many people. Many prefer to work in lowlands or in the city.

Modern gadgets now alienate people leading to the “uselessness” of these technologies. What worth does an object possess if one does not have any idea on how to use it. Every technology should be accompanied with proper use or guidelines on how to maximize its potential. And besides, not every technology is applicable to everybody. Scientists and engineers should develop technologies that will fit their target market as a whole

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 26th, 2008 at 4:58 pm and is filed under Agriculture, Society and Culture.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.