Editing Carabao (section)

===Draft animals===
[[File:Carabao with sled, 1899.jpg|thumb|A carabao sled ({{lang|fil|kangga}}) in the Philippines (c.&nbsp;1899)]]
[[File:Carabao Cart, Albay Province, Philippines LCCN2014690052.jpg|thumb|A carabao cart ({{lang|fil|kareton}}) in the Philippines (c.&nbsp;1910)]]

Carabaos are mainly used as [[draft animal]]s for [[paddy field]] rice cultivation. In 2023, the vast majority of Philippine carabaos (99.3%) are raised for this purpose by [[Smallholding|smallholder]] farmers.<ref name="Villamor"/><ref name="psa"/> Carabaos raised as draft animals are typically docile and can be trained with simple commands. They are treated as a family pet and are regularly taken to bodies of water to bathe when not working.<ref name="Forbes-Lindsay">{{cite book |last1=Forbes-Lindsay |first1=C. H. |title=The Philippines Under Spanish and American Rules |date=1906 |publisher=J. C. Winston Company |page=442}}</ref><ref name="Hannaford">{{cite book |last1=Hannaford |first1=Ebenezer |title=History and Description of Our Philippine Wonderland |date=1899 |publisher=Crowell & Kirkpatrick Company |page=163}}</ref> The advent of modern machinery like [[tractor]]s are slowly displacing carabaos in their role as draft animals.<ref name="bd">{{cite news |title=Milking Profits from the Carabao |url=https://businessdiary.com.ph/427/milking-profits-from-the-carabao/ |access-date=10 February 2024 |work=Business Diary |date=3 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="Roque"/>

The traditional equipment used with the carabao is a [[plow]] or [[Harrow (tool)|harrow]] attached to the animal by a [[yoke]]. In modern times, carabaos are also used to plow fields for crops that grow on dry land, like [[corn]], [[sugarcane]], or [[upland rice]].<ref name="Roque">{{cite news |last1=Roque |first1=Anselmo |title=Appreciating the carabao |url=https://punto.com.ph/appreciating-the-carabao-sun/ |access-date=10 February 2024 |work=Punto! |date=28 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Daro and Yugo |url=https://thephilippinestoday.com/daro-and-yugo/ |website=The Philippines Today |date=September 6, 2020 |access-date=10 February 2024}}</ref> Another older method of preparing fields with the carabao is known as {{lang|fil|payatak}}, which is still practiced by some farmers in [[Northern Samar]]. In {{lang|fil|payatak}}, the soil of the rice paddy is first softened with rainwater or diverted watershed, then the farmer guides a group of carabaos in trampling the planting area until it is soggy enough to receive the rice seedlings. This time-consuming task produces lower yields and lower income when compared with the advancement in irrigated fields.<ref>[http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view_article.php?article_id=83283 Philippine Daily Inquirer, 8-18-2007.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028164754/http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view_article.php?article_id=83283 |date=October 28, 2007 }}</ref>

Before modern equipment, carabaos were also formerly used to thresh rice by trampling them while going around a post, separating the grains from the stalks. They were also used to power stone mills used for crushing sugarcane in pre-modern sugar production.<ref name="Roque"/>

Carabaos were also widely used for transporting goods in the past, usually via a '''carabao sled''' ({{lang|fil|'''kangga'''}}) or a two-wheeled cart ({{lang|fil|gareta}} or {{lang|fil|careton}}, also spelled {{lang|fil|kareton}} or {{lang|fil|kariton}}, from Spanish {{lang|es|carretón}}). The {{lang|fil|kangga}} is typically used for rocky or muddy terrain, and has the advantage of being capable of traveling over rice paddy dikes without destroying them. The {{lang|fil|careton}}, on the other hand, is typically reserved for traveling on roads. The {{lang|fil|careton}} come in various designs and can be covered in a roof of woven split bamboo (''[[sawali]]'')  or thatched [[nipa palm]] leaves (''[[Amakan#Pawid|pawid]]'').<ref name="Zabilka">{{cite book |last1=Zabilka |first1=Gladys |title=Customs and Culture of the Philippines |date=1963 |publisher=C. E. Tuttle Company |isbn=9780804801348 |page=37}}</ref><ref name="ctp">{{cite news |title=The Last Calesa Maker: How A Proud Fernandino Kept A Fading Industry Alive |url=https://ctp.rushhoursolutions.net/last-calesa-maker-proud-fernandino-kept-fading-industry-alive/ |access-date=30 March 2024 |work=Capital Town Pampanga |date=28 March 2019}}</ref>

One of the many reasons for the failure of the attempted Japanese pacification of the Philippines during their 1941–1945 occupation was their indifference to the basics of the Philippine economy. The carabaos provided the necessary labor that allowed Philippine farmers to grow rice and other staples. Japanese army patrols would not only confiscate the rice, but would also slaughter the carabaos for meat, thereby preventing the farmers from growing enough rice to feed the large population. Before [[World War II]], an estimated three million carabaos inhabited the Philippines. By the end of the war, an estimated nearly 70% of them had been lost.<ref>Schmidt, L. S. (1982). [https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADB068659.pdf ''American Involvement in the Filipino Resistance on Mindanao During the Japanese Occupation, 1942–1945'']. M.S. Thesis. U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.</ref>