Bario Rice


Bario rice comes from remote highlands that bear the same name, situated at 1,100 meters in altitude in northeast Sarawak on the island of Borneo. Twenty years ago, this region could be reached only after a week of hard walking. Today, a small biplane flies there daily, but the preferred means of transportation remains the buffalo. Bario rice is native to these high plains and is hand-cultivated by the local Kelabit tribe.

Bario's yield per hectare is very low compared to commerical hybrid varieties, amounting to two to three tons per hectare compared to the ten tons produced by the latter. The terrain here has been transformed into rice paddies through centuries of labor. Paddies have been sculpted from the mountainside, creating narrow fields with just enough space for a buffalo to turn around as it tills. The Kelabit tribe has brought water to even the most remote fields through an intricate system of bamboo tubes.

With the introduction of modern, high-yield varieties in Sarawak, older rice varieties are slowly losing ground. Most rice farmers in Sarawak still follow the traditional planting technique of mixing a number of different varieties in order to stagger the harvest period and to reduce the risk of crop failure. Some farmers plant as many as eight varieties in just a hectare or two, but most plant about three or four. In Sarawak, each family cultivates an area of one to two hectares of rice.

Terraced hillside fields are preferred by the majority of the rural population, and the traditional farming system practiced here is 'shifting cultivation', with a period of short but variable cultivation alternating with a long, equally variable fallow period.

In Bario, farmers treat rice planting with great reverence, celebrating the occasion with rituals and ceremonies. The Bumai piring celebration commemorates the preparation of the land and piring ngepong padi inaugurates the harvest. During the growing season, certain rituals protect the crop from evil spirits and omens. The farmers prepare and sow the fields in July and then harvest the rice in January. Buffalo live on the fallow fields, eating the weeds and fertilizing the soil.

Bario rice has tiny, very white opaque grains. Famous in Sarawak, it is a favorite among Malaysian chefs, who appreciate its gummy qualities. It adapts well to traditional preparations like lemang, in which the rice is tightly packed in banana leaves and steamed in a cane of bamboo. Bario rice is ideal for desserts like rice pudding and rice pie, where its fine consistency and subtle perfume give delicate results.

The Presidium Bario rice is an important example of agricultural biodiversity. It is a local product cultivated by hand with no pesticides or herbicides and represents a valuable ecological niche. Presidium rice is grown by the Kelabit tribe, whose members, numbering fewer than 5,000, live solely in the highlands.

The presidium has been developed to give assistance to local growers by promoting the product on the Malaysian market through information campaigns, dinners and predominantly local events. The majority of Malaysians, in fact, are unaware of the difference between real Bario rice and the cheaper, lesser quality variety that is often sold as the former. Low rice production relative to high consumption here has pushed the Malaysian government to make exportation of local varieties more difficult.

This motive, along with the meager production of Bario rice in particular, affirms that the activity of the presidium and specifically the promotion and commercialization of the product must be taken further on a local level.

Production Area: Sarawak State, Kelabit high plains

I only went back once for harvesting, man, i can tell you, it is really hard work...