Could rice be New Zealand’s next crop?

Yuki: "Rice is an Asian taonga and its place needs to be firmly rooted in this whenua."

For Asians, rice has been the most important food item for thousands of years. Rice is part of the DNA; rice represents life itself.

Asian cultural celebrations are often closely tied with dishes made of rice, and of rice straw. Produce made out of rice straw has been used for all sorts of purposes, from architecture to baskets and ornaments.

New Zealand relies entirely on imported rice, with over 57,000 tonnes ($95 million) of rice was imported in 2023. It is a food security concern.

Our imports come from countries that have been increasingly affected by climate disasters, such as Australia, Thailand, Vietnam and India. Recently, some have had to restrict exports to meet their domestic demands. It is time - as a nation - that we start thinking about growing rice here.

Few people in New Zealand realise that rice grows well here—and with a warming climate, it is likely to grow here even better in the future.

The panting of rice in early June

I have been growing rice as a trial in Nelson since 2021. As far as I know, I am the first person in South Island to have grown rice successfully.

But I am new to growing rice and wanted to know more about growing rice organically, so I applied to the Asia New Zealand Foundation for a research grant to travel to Japan in April 2025 to visit an organic rice farm in northern Japan.

When I was a high school student in Tokyo in 1993, I used to do WWOOFing (work as a volunteer on an organic farm) at a farm located at the tip of Boso Peninsula, Chiba Prefecture—a four hour journey from Tokyo. There I met a young aspiring farmer, Toru Sakawa.

In 1994, Toru, came to New Zealand for a year to take permaculture courses and do WWOOFing. He also did two extra things, which – 30 years later - fatefully brought us back together.

First, he met Yoshimasa (Yoshi) Sakurai in Kaiwaka, Northland. Yoshi was trying to grow rice in his mini paddy but was using a late-maturing rice variety from the warmer part of Japan where he was from.

Using a harvester to thresh the rice after it's dried in the sun

Toru gave him crucial advice: to use an early-maturing variety from colder parts of Japan (where Toru grew up), which would better suit New Zealand's climate. Yoshi sought rice varieties from the northern island of Hokkaido and succeeded with rice growing with a variety called Yukihikari.

Yoshi kindly posted his rice seeds to me in 2021, and I started growing rice in Nelson. However, he passed away in April 2024, aged 86.

When he was here in 1994, Toru also recommended that I come and study at Lincoln University—I started my studies there the following year. After spending a year in New Zealand, he returned to his hometown in Iwate Prefecture, northern Honshu Island.

Toru’s son, Nemu Sakawa, teaches children how to plant rice at community rice planting event on their farm. Right - preparing the land

Prior to this year, I had only caught up with Toru once since 1995— in 2012 when I volunteered to be his driver and personal assistant when he was in New Zealand as a guest speaker at Permaculture Convergence.

While having some success growing rice from the seeds Yoshi provided me, I wanted to learn more about how to grow rice organically and with help from Asia New Zealand Foundation funding I was able to visit Toru’s farm in April this year.

He has been developing his permaculture farm for the past 30 years, successfully selling his organic produce (rice, pork, eggs and vegetables) to many renowned restaurants in Tokyo.

On his farm, Toru provided me with invaluable advice for growing rice organically, such using chopped-up rice straws for fertiliser. Before this trip, I had thought animal-manure compost would enrich the soil best, but, according to Toru, that would make the soil too rich and make the rice plants more susceptible to pests and diseases.

Toru checks the seedling growth in the greenhouse with his farming apprentices

He showed me a rigorous seed-selection process, how to make rice straw compost, and gave me advice that I would not have to worry about different varieties cross-pollinating.

Toru relies on his family, WWOOFers, apprentices and friends to help prepare the paddies, plant and harvest rice, too.  It made me realise that growing rice is a community effort, weaving thousands of years of culture and heritage. 

To achieve my dream that all New Zealanders have access to locally-grown organic rice, I have learnt that I cannot do this task alone. I need to build much stronger community interest— whether it is to demand our government to start taking the food security issue more seriously and start using subsidies to grow rice, or for people have a go at growing rice in their backyards.

We will need to combine the wisdom, knowledge, experience and passion of a community to make this dream come true.

Chefs working with Toru not only source his produce but also join in planting rice on his farm

Advocating for a national-level rice production in Aotearoa New Zealand from our government is certainly a step in the right direction.

The benefit for the wider society is immeasurable: rice is an important staple for about 65,000 New Zealanders who have genetic auto-immune disorder and are gluten-free. So many kiwis enjoy eating sushi, curry, fried rice and many other Asian dishes, so rice should be part of our land use, too.

Rice is an Asian taonga and its place needs to be firmly rooted in this whenua. Rice equals our happiness and wellbeing. Rice is essential to our life and who we are.

 The Foundation's Research Programme publishes surveys, reports, and insights briefs relating to all aspects of New Zealand’s relationships with and interests in Asia. We also provide grants to emerging scholars with Asia-related research interests. 

The Foundation’s Research Grants support talented postgraduate students and emerging scholars to conduct research into contemporary issues in the Asia region. The next Research Grant application round open 1 September 2025.