Farmers in Abra have reason to be happy these days.

Their indigenous rice variety, "ballatinaw", now yields more, thanks to the new technology in producing it developed by the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice).

Where before, "ballantinaw" yielded only 1.8-2.5 tons per hectare, now the variety, through the new technology, can turn out 4 t/ha.

Another significant result of the efforts of the researchers at the DA-PhilRice station in Batac, Ilocos Norte, is that the new "ballatinaw" has not lost its color, aroma, and good eating quality, characteristics given by Abra farmers why they continued planting it notwithstanding its low yield.

The variety's grain is blackish violet. It has a peculiar aroma and is very soft when cooked.

"With these qualities, 'ballatinaw' is regarded as the 'king of rice' and 'rice of kings' of the Abrans," wrote Felicidad Bautista of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), which monitored the research.

The variety commands a high price of P35 per kilogram. During trade fairs, it fetches P100-P200/kg.

At first, Abra farmers did not want to adopt new technologies in growing "ballatinaw" because they thought that these would result in even lower yields, less of color and aroma, and poor eating quality.

The DA-PhilRice-Batac research dispelled their fears.