Scientists hope to prove the sceptics wrong and grow new varieties of rice in the Top End as part of an international research project.
Rice has a controversial history in the Northern Territory, with bids in the 1960s and 1980s failing to create a profitable industry despite government support.
This time, the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research has thrown its support behind trialing South-East Asian varieties in Top End conditions.
The Department of Resources' Rowena Eastick says the new lines will be planted at a former trial site at Tortilla Flats, south of Darwin, in December.
"Once we get the crops in the ground we'll be able to look at some of the growing traits of rice ... such as length of growing season," she said.
"So how long it takes from planting until we can actually harvest the rice.
"And features such as yield is quite important, what sort of grain numbers and weight of rice grains do we get off these plants."
She says a rice industry in the Territory is more viable now than it was 20 years ago.
"There is an export demand for rice this time and there's record world prices for rice at the moment.
"The price is say $500 a tonne and if we can get yields of three to four tonnes per hectare, that's quite an achievable average yield I think."