Four rice variety trials were carried out in the Paraiba Valley from 1952 to 1957. These experiments were planted on soils representative of the low lands in the area and were irrigated by flooding. Six varieties were compared: Iguape agulha, Pratão, Perola, Dourado-agulha I, Dourado-agulha II, and IAC-4. The var. Iguape-agulha gave the highest yields in all trials. Its average yield (3,170 kg per hectare) surpassed by 12 per cent that of Pratão that ranked second in the four tests.