Category Archives: Bario Academia

Go deep into Bario. If you want to know more about Bario, you can ask the locals, or you can ask the researchers. This is a collection of academic publication by various academicians on different facts of Kelabit Highland life, history, flora and fauna.

The precious ingredients inside Bario Rice

What is there inside Bario rice that makes it so yummy and very expensive?

Bario rice is world famous in Sarawak. It is slowly getting more known in other parts of the country too, as more and more stocks of the rice travel from the Kelabit Highlands and over the South China sea into the rice cooker of West Malaysian homes.

It’s been described in so many flowery ways, but you won’t actually know it until you’ve tried it. Now, for those who have tried Bario rice, this is a good ‘technical explanation’ of what’s inside Bario rice that makes it taste and feel so wonderful in your mouth.

“The main objective of the study was to analyse the characteristics of four Bario rice varieties to provide data on their nutritional values and glycemic index which can be used as references for future food product development.”

In most supermarkets, Bario rice is the priciest rice on the shelves, and yet there isn’t enough stock to go around. While the Kelabits have always preferred their own rice to the lowland rice that they consumed when they are in town, most Kelabits didn’t realise they had a ‘winner product’ in their hands.

What makes the demand for Bario rice so strong? This study may explain the combination of factors that makes it special. Quoted from the publication.

“This showed that Bario rice contained some minerals which could be useful in improving health (Adzim et al. 2006).”

“The protein content ranged from 5.85 – 7.30% which fulfilled the requirement to be stated as a good source of protein (>5 g/100 g according to Nutrient Reference Value in 18C Act, Table II Food Regulations of Malaysia).”

“The crude fibre content were in the range of 1.40 – 2.05% which were higher than MR 219, while the carbohydrate contents ranged from 73.96 – 76.76% which was lower than MR 219.”

Intrigued? Click in the link to downloand the PDF.

 

Nutritional value and glycemic index of Bario rice varieties (Nilai pemakanan dan indeks glisemia varieti beras Bario)

D. Nicholas, K.K. Hazila,
H.P. Chua and A. Rosniyana

Curators Note:
This post is part of a collection of academic research and publications done in the Kelabit Highlands. We'd like to sincerely thank the many academicians and institutions from all over the world that have come to Bario to experiment, document, and expand our understanding of the things around us.

The Paratrooper Cat Brigade

The Paratrooper Cat Brigade.

It seems like a tall tale, but it’s true. In 1954, the British RAF flew up into the Kelabit Highlands  and parachuted a bunch of cats into Bario. They landed on their feet, and went on with their mission. Some say it was 14,000 cats. How many and why they were dropped? Ask David Labang when you get to Bario.

“A 1954 New York Times article also described the parachuting of cats into the jungle to fight rats”.

PARACHUTING CATS AND CRUSHED EGGS The Controversy Over the Use of DDT to Control Malaria

Click On Link To Download PDF:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2636426/pdf/1940.pdf

Website:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2636426/

Curators Note:
This post is part of a collection of academic research and publications done in the Kelabit Highlands. We'd like to sincerely thank the many academicians and institutions from all over the world that have come to Bario to experiment, document, and expand our understanding of the things around us.

Bario Salt Makes You Smart

“Bario Salt Makes You Smart!”

Now, that’s a claim you’d expect to hear from a snake oil salesman, trying to get a sale off you on the five foot alleway in a shady part of town. However, in this instance, that’s not the case. This preliminary study conducted by medical researchers with established international standards and state-of-the-art equipment deduced that the Kelabit’s famous trait for being ‘intelligent’ is ‘probably’ in the Bario Salt. Hard to believe that the ubuquitious salt can make one smart? Read the research to see the proof. Yes, it does make sense.

“Despite the remoteness of the study area, the schoolchildren in Bario, Sarawak showed higher mental performance compared to other isolated areas.”

Micronutrients and its correlation with mental performance among schoolchildren in Bario, Sarawak: a preliminary study.

Click On Link To Download PDF:
http://www.e-mjm.org/2003/v58n3/Micronutrients.pdf

Curators Note:
This post is part of a collection of academic research and publications done in the Kelabit Highlands. We'd like to sincerely thank the many academicians and institutions from all over the world that have come to Bario to experiment, document, and expand our understanding of the things around us.

 

Integrated Highland Development in Bario

Development Issues – How do you develop Bario and keep it pristine?

“Over the last 45 years till to-date, the Kelabit community still practiced environmental friendly irrigated wet rice cultivation, salt processing from salt springs, agrisilvipastoral system and conserving nearby forest resources.”

Change Is Inevitable.
Bareo’s great asset (next to it’s people), is its environment. The beauty of the Kelabit Highlands is its remoteness, its natural surroundings and how it seems trapped in time. Is this a blessing, or a handicap? In 10 years time, what will the Kelabit Highlands look like? This paper might give you a clue.

This survey was done to gauge problems, issues and aspirations of the Kelabit Highlanders in Bario. A good quick read to get an overal picture of Bario before you get there.

“Based on survey done in May 2005, the highest ranking of problems faced by Bario community were transportation (24%), followed by high cost of living, no electric supply, shortage of manpower and limited telephone line. The type of development preferred according to the highest ranking was related with conservation (60%), followed by eco-tourism, agriculture and research.”

Integrated highland development in Bario, Sarawak, Malaysia: An overview.

D. Jiwan , Paul Chai P.K. , Teo, G.K.  & M. Jiwan

Click On Link To Download PDF:
https://www.uni-hohenheim.de/fileadmin/einrichtungen/sfb564/events/uplands2006/PS-A-Jiwan-full.pdf

Curators Note:
This post is part of a collection of academic research and publications done in the Kelabit Highlands. We'd like to sincerely thank the many academicians and institutions from all over the world that have come to Bario to experiment, document, and expand our understanding of the things around us.

 

Mechanised Rice Farming in Bario

Bario Rice Farms In The Machine Age.

The first Agricuture Revolution happened in 10,000BC, when humans began food crop cultivation, and a large part of their diet came from cultivated crops, instead of foraged food from the wild.

Since then, there have been a few ‘regional’ agriculture revolutions’ around the world, each bringing new understanding to agriculture practices and new effects to our way of life.  eg – European agriculture revolution introduced ‘crop rotation’, which changed not just agriculture, but even laws governing land and people.

Bario Kelabit Highlands Farming Mechanisation
A bufallo grazing in the fields. In the background, a tractor takes its place.
Mechanised Farming

While not considered an ‘agriculture revolution’ in itself, the mechanisation of farming has vastly increased crop yeild and food availability wherever it is applied. Surplus food have increased food security, but also reduced farm owner’s security.

Farming Transformation of Bario Rice

This study by a explores effects of the mechanised farming of rice in Bario, which just only 5 years ago, was very much a manual endeavour.

Impact of the Introduction of Mechanized Agriculture on a
Traditional Rice-Growing Community in Sarawak, Malaysia
by
Davin Marcus Raja

Click On Link To Download The PDF:
https://atrium.lib.uoguelph.ca/xmlui/handle/10214/9238

Curators Note:
This post is part of a collection of academic research and publications done in the Kelabit Highlands. We'd like to sincerely thank the many academicians and institutions from all over the world that have come to Bario to experiment, document, and expand our understanding of the things around us.