While agriculture accounts for less than 0.1 percent of the finance hub's GDP, researchers say homegrown grains could one day be an important food security insurance policy in the face of climate change—while also feeding hometown pride in history, culture and identity.

Pointing at the clearly marked crops, researcher Mercury Wong said the seeds were brought from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines—where the Hong Kong government once deposited them—as well as from the US Department of Agriculture.

"They are the only 20 Hong Kong rice varieties we are left with," he told AFP, seated by land reclaimed from wild ginger flower fields in the city's New Territories region.

Verdant curves of rice crops snaked around Hong Kong's hilly landscapes more than 50 years ago.

By the 1960s, authorities had turned to Southeast Asia for the food staple and encouraged local farmers to focus on more profitable agricultural projects such as vegetables.

Wong said the Hong Kong-origin grain from the Philippine and US seed banks was among tens of thousands of deposited varieties and were therefore considered "insignificant".

"But for us, because they used to grow in Hong Kong, they mean something very different," he said.

Wong, along with other researchers from Gift From Land, a small group dedicated to revitalizing the dormant varieties, has been working since 2019 on this mission, which has yielded some surprising results.