The variety — ICFV 86564 — had earlier been tried and found to thrive in Cagayan Valley.

Introduced in the Philippines in 2005, the variety was bred by the India-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), currently headed by former Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar.

The peanut, known in India as Asha (which means "hope" in the Hindi language), was first tested in Isabela and Cagayan for its adaptability and economic performance under Philippine conditions.

The trial showed that Asha could yield as much as 2.96 tons per hectare, or 41 to 47 percent higher than the farmers’ varieties (BPI Pn 9, UPL Pn 10, and Namnama) in Region 2.

Asha has almost double the size of the local variety, as reported by Miko Jasmine Mojica of the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR). This means that the Asha peanut variety is commercially viable in the Philippines.

BAR, headed by Director Nicomedes P. Eleazar, coordinated the project titled "Introduction, Promotion, and Efficient Seed Support System of ICRISAT ‘Asha’ Peanut Variety in Region 2."

The project was implemented by the DA-Cagayan Valley Integrated Agricultural Research Center (CVIARC) and Cagayan Valley Lowland and Marine Research Outreach Station (CVLMOS) in collaboration with ICRISAT.

With Asha’s encouraging performance in Cagayan Valley, BAR and ICRISAT shifted the trials to the Bicol Region.

Rep. Salvador H. Escudero III, himself a former agriculture secretary, said the variety is now being tried in several sites in Sorsogon, among them Sorsogon City, Irosin and Castilla.

The Research Outreach Station in Sorsogon supervised by the DA-Bicol Integrated Agricultural Research Center (BIARC) is now evaluating the performance of the variety before its commercialization in the province.

BAR, through its National Technology Commercialization Program, is funding Asha’s performance evaluation and promotion in Sorsogon.