MACATLANG, Francis Emmanuel S.

SLU ID No. 2222823

ELABORATE 1: Indigenous Science and technology in the Philippines

Mechanized Rice Farming

The Philippines has always been a rice dependent country, the province of Pangasinan is no
exception to this. It is withing our culture to depend on rice and there are traditional methods in
processing rice. The mechanical harvesters are heavily based on manual harvesting traditions.
The mechanical harvester made it easier for farmers to harvest their crops. The machines that
are currently used in farming are based on the traditional methods not to my province specifically
but these traditions still have an impact in the research that has been put onto these modern
machines. In our history we can see a spike in the increase of rice production in the Philippines
in the martial law era specifically, under the Masagana 99 agricultural program, which lasted from
1973-1980, which prompted a spike in the development of Scientific methods and machineries to
help in rice farming.
This helped not only the province at that time but consequently the methods developed by our
country with the Masagana 99 agricultural project are now being used in other rice dependent
countries to increase their production. Using these technological developments, the farmers now
have a more mechanized option in processing rice.

Pangasinan’s Salt Industry

Pangasinan as we know is one of the top producers of salt it is the main product of the province
for 8 decades now. Traditional salt making is very labor intensive and takes up a lot of space as
well as a lot of time to manufacture. Thankfully in 2016, the Department of Science and Technology-
Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI) introduced a few machineries to help with
the salt production. This has become a big help to the salt industry in Pangasinan. The salt-making
machine improves the quality of the salt. The spin dryer dries the salt in 30 minutes. It can process 75
kilos per batch in an hour. The salt iodizing machine is used to apply consistent iodine in the salt, thus
making the production of salt much more efficient. DOST-ITDI made these salt farms their testing is
for the technology in order to improve more and make it more efficient. The salt industry of
Pangasinan has helped improve the technology as well as benefit from it.

Bagoong production
Bagoong is the undigested residue of partially hydrolyzed fish or shrimp. It has a salty and slightly
cheese-like odor. The characteristics of this product vary depending on the region where it is
made and consumed. In the Ilocos region and Pangasinan provinces, the products are either
partially or completely fermented. The process of making bagoong came from old practices.
Thanks to science we are now able to understand the microbiological processes that happens to
it. This study helps to better understand the allergic reactions or the fool sickness that bagoong
may give to some individuals.