▲ Cheollipo Arboretum colored rice paddy
Recently, a large piano keyboard unfolded across the green paddy fields of Cheollipo Arboretum in Taean, South Chungcheong Province, capturing the attention of tourists.
The dark purple sections, which resemble black piano keys, were not painted.
They are Cheonnam No. 19, an ornamental rice variety that naturally features a deep purple color.
When rice with different colors is planted according to a design using the paddy field as a canvas, each individual rice stalk acts as a pixel.
The Chungcheongnam-do Agricultural Research and Extension Services announced recently that it is accelerating the development of ornamental rice varieties to be utilized in such paddy art.
Cheonnam No. 19 is a variety in which the stems, leaves, and panicles all display a deep purple hue, and it was used this year to create piano keyboard-shaped paddy art at Cheollipo Arboretum.
Building on its experience of developing the pot-grown rice variety Jagwan in 2012, the provincial agricultural research institute is expanding research into ornamental rice with various leaf and panicle colors.
The agricultural research institute is also conducting regional adaptation tests in Yesan, Nonsan, and Dangjin to verify the growth characteristics and cultivation stability of Cheonnam No. 19, raising expectations that more such paddy art works will be seen across the Chungcheong region in the future.
In fact, paddy art utilizing differently colored rice has already been drawing attention from tourists and serving as a regional promotional tool in various parts of the country for over a decade.
Ahead of "Rice Day" in August of last year, a tiger character named "Tsungrangi" appeared in the middle of a green rice paddy in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, while King Sejong smiled in a nearby paddy.
At first glance, it looks as though a giant painting was drawn directly onto the field, but the secret behind these massive paddy paintings was also colored rice.
When colored rice varieties exhibiting different shades such as purple, red, and yellow are planted by location according to a pre-made design, the outlines and colors become clearer as the rice grows, ultimately completing a giant picture.
In Busan in 2023, four colors of rice were utilized across an 8,610-square-meter paddy field to create an artwork wishing for the successful hosting of the 2030 Busan World Expo.
Local young farmers personally planted the rice seedlings according to the design, and the picture was completed as the rice grew.
That same year in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province, green rice served as the background, mixed with purple, black, and white rice across a 16,688-square-meter paddy field to depict the Gariwangsan Cable Car and local characters.
Another characteristic of paddy art is that the atmosphere of the artwork changes as the colors and shapes shift depending on the growth state of the rice, the weather, and the season.
Paddy art goes beyond simple visual entertainment, being utilized as a means to promote rural tourism, local festivals, and regional agricultural specialties.
Goesan County has showcased colored rice paddy paintings since 2008 to promote the region, and Gimje has also created paddy art as a spectacle for visitors to the Horizon Festival.
Paddy fields that once exclusively produced rice transform into giant canvases, with colored rice acting as paint.
It is essentially a process where small seedlings planted during the planting season grow through the summer, revealing a thousands-of-square-meter artwork right in the middle of the paddy.
(Photo provided by Chungcheongnam-do, Yonhap News)
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