HONG KONG, May 2 — Far from the hovering skyscrapers synonymous with Hong Kong, scientists and farmers labour in a paddy subject on the town’s outskirts to revive dormant rice varieties that when sprung from native soil.
While agriculture accounts for lower than 0.1 per cent of the finance hub’s GDP, researchers say homegrown grains might at some point be an necessary meals safety insurance coverage coverage within the face of local weather change — whereas additionally feeding hometown delight in historical past, tradition and identification.
Pointing on the clearly marked crops, researcher Mercury Wong mentioned the seeds have been introduced from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) within the Philippines — the place the Hong Kong authorities as soon as deposited them — in addition to from the US Department of Agriculture.
“They are the one 20 Hong Kong rice varieties we’re left with,” he instructed eNM, seated by land reclaimed from wild ginger flower fields within the metropolis’s New Territories area.
Verdant curves of rice crops snaked round Hong Kong’s hilly landscapes greater than 50 years in the past.
By the Sixties, authorities had turned to South-east Asia for the meals staple and inspired native farmers to concentrate on extra worthwhile agricultural tasks akin to greens.
Wong mentioned the Hong Kong-origin grain from the Philippine and US seed banks was amongst tens of hundreds of deposited varieties and have been due to this fact thought-about “insignificant”.
“But for us, as a result of they used to develop in Hong Kong, they imply one thing very completely different,” he mentioned.
Wong, together with different researchers from Gift From Land, a small group devoted to revitalising the dormant varieties, has been working since 2019 on this mission, which has yielded some shocking outcomes.
In January, the team introduced the invention of two new varieties of “See Mew” — one of the crucial fashionable non-glutinous rice varieties grown in southern China.
“It’s a significant piece of our historical past that we misplaced within the city improvement… we expect we could discover a few of our identification from this native number of the rice,” Wong mentioned.
Seeds from the previous
An necessary unanswered query about “Hong Kong rice” is whether or not there was really any selection that originated from the town.
Gift From Land researchers seen that some grown in Hong Kong a long time in the past may share the identical identify as these from the adjoining Pearl River Delta however they possess completely different options.
The seek for a solution can be hindered by the dearth of official rice-growing information in Hong Kong, in addition to the passing of residents who had recollections to share.
According to city legend, some “See Mew” rice grown in Yuen Long, a border space in northwest Hong Kong, used to be given as tribute to China’s emperors.
But Wong mentioned they may not discover any dependable historic proof to assist this.
The query stays: How then to outline a Hong Kong-unique selection?
Wong, a former college analysis assistant in biology, confessed that the inquiry was not only a science undertaking for him.
“I believe it’s a course of to seek for Hong Kong — or to seek for myself,” he mused.
He shouldn’t be alone within the quest to determine the genetic traits of Hong Kong rice — the town’s agriculture division has since 2020 funded a seed know-how and schooling centre, SeedTEC, at a neighborhood college.
“Agriculture constitutes an necessary a part of our historical past and tradition,” SeedTEC chief Lam Hon-ming mentioned then.
In 2022, the lab reintroduced “Fa Yiu Tsai” — one of many varieties the division had despatched to IRRI within the Sixties — to the market, urging native farmers to develop and promote the historic grain.
Seeds for the longer term
A extra modern concern, nevertheless, revolves round Hong Kong’s meals safety, notably as local weather change brings more and more frequent excessive climate.
The metropolis’s 7.5 million folks eat about 330,000 tonnes of rice yearly, however in 2022 regionally produced grains amounted to solely 390 tonnes.
As decreased grain yield turns into a worldwide challenge, Wong mentioned the scenario might be particularly “harmful” coupled with Hong Kong’s fluctuating local weather.
Hong Kong’s 7.5 million folks eat about 330,000 tonnes of rice yearly, however in 2022 regionally produced grains amounted to solely 390 tonnes. — eNM pic
Pollination shall be affected whether it is too scorching, whereas excessive downpours — such because the once-in-five-centuries rainstorm that hit the town final 12 months — are an enormous supply of “headache and panic for us”, he mentioned.
Siu-yuk, a part-time farmer with the undertaking, mentioned a resilient meals provide comes from having a “variety of sources — some from right here, some from mainland China, and a few from abroad”.
“If any certainly one of them breaks down, you’ll be able to depend on others.”
While their one-hectare crop is on a small scale, she felt it was significant to retain seeds in Hong Kong, and the lot might develop into one thing used for wider manufacturing — even exterior the town.
“But you’ll be able to’t kickstart it with no seed from Hong Kong,” Siu-yuk mentioned. “There is not any future risk with no seed being saved.” — eNM
