10 to 15 tangkals of freshly harvested corn. A tangkal or cart is equivalent to 200 kilograms or four to six sacks of freshly picked corn. Labugin, Garcia, and Castro earn a living out of their carabaos’ indispensable service by renting them out to corn farmers such as Tamaris. Aside from the Php250 rental fee, their carabao gets another Php50 per sack when transporting farm products from Tamaris’ farm to the creek, a natural block to hurdle before the products can be transported to the market. The tractor takes over after hurdling the creek. The distance is travelled by the animal in 30 minutes to one hour depending on the load and the terrain. Like Tamaris who accords his carabaos with high concern like he would to his spouse, Garcia, 62, said he never thought of selling his carabao even for a high price. “Kahit bilhin ng Php50,000 ang kalabaw ko, hinding-hindi ko ibebenta dahil sa laki ng pakinabang nito sa buhay naming mag-anak (Even if someone offers Php50,000 for my carabao, I won’t sell it because of the great benefits it provides to my family),” Garcia said. He owns four native carabaos of which two are used as work animals and the others still young for work. His draft animals, he said, can pull from 10 to 12 tangkals each per day.
For owning carabaos that he can rent out to farmers, he earns an income of Php7,000 to Php8,000 a month. Tamaris said that because his farm is in a rolling hill, he is totally dependent to the karyadors’ carabaos in his corn production venture from land preparation up to harvesting. His farm is also partially planted to banana and rice. Stretching farther north of Isabela, Ilagan City also tops as the best corn producer in the province, making it an important contributor to the country’s corn sector. Like that in San Agustin, the carabao also plays a crucial job to accomplish in saving the harvests from the elements while still in the farm. On a stretch of the Maharlika highway at past noontime, a line of carabao-pulled carts filled with corn harvest, with the handler or caretaker astride the animal, walk on to reach some warehouses. Corn farmer Marlon Domingo, 28, of barangay Manaring said he still prefers carabaos for the hauling of his corn harvest from the plantation even if it is generally a plain area. “Lahat kami rito kalabaw pa rin ang ginagamit na panghakot. Iba pa rin ang lakas-kalabaw at nakakatulong pa ako sa kapwa dahil nabibigyan ko sila ng
pagkakakitaan (All of us here still use the carabao for hauling. The power of the carabao remains to be unique. I am also able to help others earn a living by hiring their animals),” he said. Apolonio Balmes and Mariano Ochoa, both 58, and are karyador, said they are very grateful with the livelihood that their carabaos bring them and the opportunity to provide an important service to farmers. In the peak of the harvest season, corn farmers even have a hard time finding draft carabaos that they can hire for the hauling job because, chances are, they are already booked in another farm. Balmes’ and Ochoa’s carabaos are paid Php100 to Php150 per travel depending on the distance. Their carabaos, they said, can make up to three travels of one to two hours each in a day. Their animals can go on working for six hours a day. For the likes of Balmes and Ochoa, who only earn a relatively good income of an average of Php500 a day, taking advantage of the peak seasons wherein their carabaos are mostly sought-after, seems to be most rewarding. During slack periods, though, they take good care of their carabaos in preparation for another round of good work in the oncoming cropping season. 11 11