About Plants or Crops, Farming And Fishing:
1. The major crops are really important for the general farmers in the Philippines that's why some religious customs is linked to planting or cropping. The farmers in Pototan, Iloilo practice the kneeling like a priest while pounding some rice before continuing his work. They kneel first, sprinkle some charcoal in the rice which in turn spread in a big banig and then make a sign of the cross. If he could not do this, he could not expect to have good harvest in the next year.
2. It was believed that in the first planting of rice or in planting of any kinds of crop, the comb, the nganga (chewed betel leaf or something) or bunga or fruits, and old weaving or looming is thrown together with the rice in the farm fields. The objective of the comb is to have an orderliness, neatness or decency of the crops or plants; the fruits is for a bountiful harvest, and the weaving is for the good breed or variety of grains.
3. In planting rice,the lemongrass (an aromatic grass that is also used in cooking chicken or meat stew, roasted or grilled chicken, lechon, dinuguan etc.) is planted first in the first sowing or planting and this was followed by the cheap plants.
4. Before the rice is planted, mixed with bugnay leaf and lemongrass for its growth to be like lemongrass thick and leafy leaves and its fruits, produce or grains will be like the berry fruits of bugnay.
5. In corn, the first seeds or grains thrown to the area or place is covered with the coconut skins. It was believed that the grains or produces could not be seen by pests or other insects.
6. Before harvesting the rice or corn, one should go around the farm field first.
7. In planting root crops, the "panudlak" is always done thru praying while burying in the ground large stones, sugar and apog or lime together with the first plants or crops. It will produce sweet and big root crops. In harvesting "tambis" (Hiligaynon term for Syzygium Samarangense or Malay apple) and "banayan" (Hiligaynon term for chinese yam or wild yam), no one is allowed to speak loudly or to shout. If there is a noise created, the roots will sink or go deeper into the ground and it will be difficult to grab or pull it out to harvest.
8. Put some "ramos", or consecrated / blessed with holy water dried palm every corner of the kamalig or hut or storehouse that will be the used for storing grains because sometimes even if there's a lot of produced grains of rice the harvest is relatively low.
9. In planting and even harvesting, the farmers in Santa Barbara and New Lucena still uses old magic to ensure the success and influx of produce. The sweet potatoes are only planted if the sky is covered or shrouded with country clouds or moving clouds unison and the planting is only done by men. Women who can comes close to the sweet potato field at a time when they are being planted, the crops will just be infested by the pests called "balantik". This epidemic or plague of the sweet potatoes has the characteristics of split root crops and causes the infected part to become very bitter and unpalatable.
10. In Guimbal, if the clouds were clustered in the sky that's the time to plant the sweet potatoes.
11. The planting of trees and vegetables is in accordance or in conjunction within a few days or months o season or time of the day.
12. The people never plants any fruit-bearing plants or trees when they are hungry in the fear or just avoiding the produce or fruits will be not so nice.
13. The planting or sowing is not done in the days between waning moon, in the belief that the flowers and fruits will become too small.
14. The planting is done most especially during the days in between half moon and full moon because the flowers or the fruits will become bigger.
15. The trees which barely produce fruits or flower is being shaken with the ringing of the bell in the middle of the mass during Black Saturday of the Holy Week. Doing so will spur the fast growth of the tree and its early flowering or producing.
16. If the trees are big enough to flower, its body is being beaten by tubo (Hiligaynon term for sugarcane) so that its fruits will be sweet.
17. Sometimes, the skin of the tree is being sliced or wounded by a knife or bolo to form its resin.
18. If the salt is put in the sliced or the wounded part (caused by the slicing of a knife or bolo) of the tree, a lot of its fruits produce will fall down to the ground.
19. A black piece of cloth or ribbon is tied around the body of a papaya tree so it can bear or produce more fruits.
20. The first fruits of the plants is being given away to the people if not the tree will no longer bear or produce fruits of good quality.
21. In plants like calabash or bottle gourd and squash, big bottles were hanged from the lattice or trellis so that the plants will produce a lot of long and big fruits produce. A black ribbon is tied around the principal stem or stalk so that the plant will not die.
22. The farmers and the planters has a firm belief that in planting one should observe in the high tide and low tide of water level.
23. In planting crops where the leaves is watched and observed, the seeding should be done during the high tide.
24. If the fruits and flowers were desired, the planting of the root crops is done during the ebb tide so that it will grow some leaves but many roots.
25. In Iloilo, it is a practice to plant banana if a person finished eating a bountiful breakfast or lunch. If this was not done, the fruits of the banana will be thin and will not be of good quality. So, it should be avoided to plant banana if a person is hungry if not it will produce a low quality fruits.
26. In Janiuay, Iloilo, if the first fruits of the pomelo or citrus fruits is sour, the farmers get some tubo (sugarcane) and beat the body of the tree using it. The sugar or sucrose of the sugarcane is believed to transfer to the tree.
27. During the time when the cogon grass, mango and tangerine is flowering, many people get sick with fever. If the fruit of the mangoes is as big as the size of the thumb, many children suffer from itchiness.
28. The coconuts were planted during the full moon to produce huge harvests.
29. If the fruits of the "bariri" (Hiligaynon term for Amor seco) will flourish, the belief is that there is a bountiful harvest that year.
30. The newly sprouted or producing tree should not be pointed by fingers or it may falter in producing.
31. If there's no stars in the sky no one should plant any fruit bearing crops or plants because the tree will only produce a few or it will never again produce any fruits.
32. The name of one of the fruit-bearing tree came from its only use or purpose. It was said that this is the only tree where its main body is used in carving sculptures or images of saints and holy figures so it was called Santol. This tree is used as a refuge of travelers who were caught up by the bad weather. It was believed that it will never hit by a lightning because of its useful purpose.
33. On the other hand, it was presumed that the coconut trees is usually hit by the lightning because there are some of the causes of inebriation and sin.
34. If someone went to the wake of the dead, one should never go ashore to the sea because certainly there will be no fish to catch.
35. In angling or fishing by using fishhook the fishermen drop the mixture or concoction of substance in the water which is included with prayers.
36. If the people are fishing in the sections of fish corrals, they wrap the mixture and tie it in the posts of the corrals. They believed that the smell of the mixture serves as a bait or attraction to the school of fishes to come closer.
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