Kota Kinabalu: Sarawak’s popular Ba’kelalan rice in sold here for RM12.80 to RM13.80 per kg while Lazada sells for RM21 per kg online, showing there is demand for such Borneo rice that is also grown in Sabah’s Long Pasia as Adan rice, or more globally known as Bario rice from the Bario highland in Sarawak.
Sabah visitors to Ba’kelalan in Lawas, bordering Sabah and Kalimantan, can buy Adan rice for less than RM10 per kg if only the road linking Long Pasia and Long Mio is sealed.
Agricultural products, including coffee beans, can also be brought out of the village to Tenom (which is now forced to import Indonesian coffee beans) and Sipitang to other parts of Sabah.
Such rice enjoys a reputation as one of the finest varieties due to its soft texture; fine, elongated grains; and superb flavour and aroma, grown using the conventional method and is devoid of artificial fertilisers.