In Pictures: In rural Hong Kong, farmers seek to return lost local rice varieties to the land
Hong Kong Free Press
Long after rice varieties once farmed in Hong Kong were lost to progress, some farming initiatives have sought to return old agricultural staples to the land.
“Many are surprised to discover that there are still farmers cultivating rice in Hong Kong. Despite our daily consumption of rice, few have ever closely examined it,” Vangi Fong, project manager of Gift From Land, told HKFP in Cantonese earlier this year.
Established in 2015 and sponsored by the C.C. Wu Culture & Education Foundation Fund Limited, Gift From Land sends students and young farmers to participate in an art and agriculture-related events in Niigata, Japan, to learn and exchange their experience of working with the land.
In 2018, the team set up a base on around 2,700 square metres of remote farmland near Tai Po, roughly the size of six and a half basketball courts. They focus on educational programmes and experiences for schools and organisations.
In the 1950s and 1960s, rice paddies lined the railway tracks that connect Hong Kong’s New Territories to mainland China. However, local agriculture has since largely been abandoned as the city industrialised and modernised, leading to the loss of local rice species.
After retrieving the seeds of 33 traditional Hong Kong rice varieties from seed banks in the United States and the Philippines, Gift From Land in 2022 launched a programme to rehabilitate local rice species.
After a period of experimentation, the team announced their findings in January of this year, confirming that three species had the potential for stable cultivation in Hong Kong.
“In addition to our rehabilitation efforts, we have established a framework and standard operating procedures for data collection and measurements in rice farming,” Fong said. “The project’s ultimate goal is to publish a Hong Kong Rice Catalogue, reinstating lost information and history in Hong Kong’s rice agriculture.”
According to a publication by Gift From Land in 2017, there are around 14 farmlands still producing rice in Hong Kong, covering an estimated 25,000 square metres.
“Farming rice is no easy task, taking between three to six months from seed to harvest. Many local farmers have switched to cultivating more profitable vegetables that can be harvested in just two months,” Fong said.
“Even with the remaining rice farms, farmers resort to purchasing seeds from China on Taobao. We aim to provide scientific evidence to local farmers, showcasing the suitability of certain local species for cultivation while preserving Hong Kong’s agricultural history.”
The Gift From Land team comprises fewer than 10 people, including full-time and part-time farmers, scientists, and artists. “There are around 20 volunteers, but still the workload is massive,” Karen Kwok, senior officer of the C.C. Wu Culture & Education Foundation Fund Limited, told HKFP in Cantonese.
“We put a lot of effort and time into rice rehabilitation in the hope of drawing attention to agriculture in Hong Kong. The team is willing to share seeds and information with other farmers, and wants more people to produce local rice that we used to be proud of,” Kwok said.
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