The primary source of animal food in the diet comes from fishing, further supplemented by hunting and the collecting of insects. Wild plants do not form a significant part of the diet. Monkeys, although hunted, are not eaten. Coffee is the main export, and other tree crops include jackfruit, grapefruit, rattan, citrus, areca, coconut, banana, guava, and cacao. Terracing, often extending more than 1,000 feet up a mountainside, is extensively used.
Irrigation is controlled by elaborate systems of dikes and sluices.
Fields are worked with wooden spades and digging sticks. Ritual accompanies all stages of rice cultivation. Rice is the prestige crop, and a man's status is determined by his rice fields. Sweet potatoes, on the other hand, while an important staple food crop, enjoy low prestige value. In the Ifugao economy, barter has been replaced by rice and money for exchange.