Ligsanan: Traditional Stone Grinder for Corns
In the Philippines, corn, or “mais” is the second most important crop next to rice. In 2018, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), Cebu is the top corn-producing province in the Central Visayas with 54.63% as its contribution to the whole region while Bohol produced only 8.79%. To boost the local economy of the province during this time of the pandemic, the Provincial Government of Bohol (PGBh) recently addressed the corn farmers to cultivate potential corn areas in the different municipalities around the province.
For today’s Rice And Corn Week feature from the national collection of the National Museum of the Philippines in Bohol, we bring you the traditional stone grinder for corn also known as Ligsanan in the local dialect. This manual corn grinder is composed of two, round stones with a wooden handle at the side of the upper stone. To use the ligsanan, the corn is placed inside the small hole and the upper stone is manually rotated using the wooden handle. The corn is then crushed between the two stones with the corn grits falling on the sides. With this process, one can imagine the effort and strength used by our ancestors in grinding corn.
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