This village belongs to another major type of village community in Cambodia, that of the traditional subsistence rice farmers. These communities are scattered through the lower and upper plains, and consist of farming groups who cultivate rain-fed or irrigated rice paddies. They tend to live in small family groups or villages. In general, each family also cultivates a field where rice, cucumbers, occasionally corn, and other vegetables are grown. Usually a number of different traditional varieties of rice are grown, each one adapted to different soil types and water conditions. The farmers use animal fertilizers and traditional farming techniques, such as the swing plow pulled by oxen or buffalo. Houses used to be made of bamboo and straw thatch, and are typically raised on stilts to reduce dampness and increase ventilation, as well as to provide protection from wild animals and flooding. More prosperous families build houses of wood, concrete or other less perishable materials. Poorer families build houses of thatch directly on the ground.