Vegetables

By the mid-1960s, carrots occupied the prime position among Buguias vegetables. They can be grown throughout the year and in all soils. During the dry season they are grown on irrigated ter-

races, and in the rainy months on inclined fields. The former crop yields larger harvests, but the latter often brings higher profits because of the season's hazardous growing conditions.

Carrots are relatively pest-free, although leaf spot demands continual spraying. Labor demands remain high through the first month, as the carrot seeds germinate with difficulty and the seedlings are delicate. Several days of dry weather can destroy a neglected field of young plants. Continual and meticulous weeding must persist through the first month. But once carrots are well established they survive many disasters, especially typhoons, comparatively well. In light soils, carrots produce long, straight roots, while in heavy soils they yield squat, bulky roots. In general, fertile soils produce larger carrots, but here they must be harvested as soon as they mature, regardless of market conditions. In poorer, lighter soils, by contrast, the roots can remain in the ground (except at the height of the rainy season) for weeks or even months without losing texture or flavor.

Buguias gardeners continue to grow cabbage, although to a much lesser extent than they did in earlier years. Cabbage grows better at higher elevations, but it is valued in Buguias for its low labor requirements and relative price stability. By the 1960s cabbage had become primarily a wet-season crop; if grown in the dry months it must be sprayed incessantly to minimize insect damage. Leaf mold, a perennial wet-season curse, is controllable with fungicides, but excessive rain can simply rot the heads, especially those of the Chinese cabbage. But some farmers still prefer Chinese over European cabbage because it matures more rapidly. And a more delicate Chinese crucifer, the flowering pechay , may be harvested after only five or six weeks, attracting a few growers who want an especially fast turnover.

Some growers favor potatoes for their low labor requirements and long-term storage potential. In Buguias, potatoes are cultivated in all but the rainiest months (July through September), when leaf mold and strong winds can be devastating. Gardeners avoid heavy soils throughout the wet months. Potatoes are occasionally infected with leaf wilt, which is not treatable (although crop rotation can reduce losses). Potatoes yield most heavily on newly cleared fields, especially those in the higher elevations of

eastern Buguias. Buguias farmers often devote irrigated terraces to potatoes in the dry season, when many other Benguet vegetable districts lack sufficient water to produce a crop.

The edible-pod snow pea, like the carrot, is grown year-round. During the typhoon period, the slender cane trellises that support the vines are vulnerable to wind damage, so growers generally plant peas in this season in protected microhabitats. Peas are also favored in gardens far from any road, since they bring high prices per unit weight.

Snap beans flourish in the wet season, especially on sloped fields. At this time, insect pests are few, yet temperatures are high enough for good growth. Although fungus does attack, it is easily controlled. Bean plants, twining up cane poles, also suffer wind damage, but not to the same extent as the softer and more ramified peas.

Peppers, both "bell" and the "Chinese yellow," also thrive during the wet season. Gardeners sow them in seedbeds in March, the time of maximum sunshine and warmth. Transplanted as the southwest monsoon arrives, the plants fruit in the wettest months. Farmers could grow peppers for harvest during the dry season, but they would then compete with the lowland pepper crop, favored by easy access to the Manila market.

Buguias farmers also grow celery in the wet season. This most demanding of crops thrives only on highly fertile soils. Slope is also critical, for celery requires good drainage but abundant moisture at all times. Gardeners avoid shady areas that would foster fungal growth. Still, celery easily fails, and even if it flourishes, a poor market can render it virtually worthless.

Lettuce can be grown throughout the year, but in the dry season it requires careful water monitoring and in the wettest months it often rots; four days of continuous light rain can destroy a crop. Some growers favor lettuce for its fast growth (two months or less) and for the high prices it sometimes brings. But lettuce is an inflexible crop; when mature it must be harvested and shipped without delay.

The above discussion outlines a few of the considerations that Buguias farmers juggle when deciding what to plant. But it does not exhaust them. All growers, for example, rotate different crops

through their fields to minimize nematode infestations. Periodic flooding of terraced fields brings some relief, but for most farmers, field rotation is the only prophylactic.