The agricultural tourism season is in full swing and colorful rice paddies in three areas of the nation have been attracting attention in recent weeks.
Unique patterns have been created in rice paddies in Greater Tainan, Miaoli and Yunlin counties from Japonica and Indica rice strains, which are characterized by strong colors, local agricultural officials said.
In Tainan, for example, a pattern featuring an image of a water buffalo created from purple Indica and green Japonica rice varieties can be visited free of charge until the end of next month, by which time the design will have grown out.
Photo: Wang Han-ping, Taipei Times
It took Lo Cheng-tsung (羅正宗), a director at the Tainan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, four months to design a water buffalo on a computer and replicate it in a 1.77 hectare rice paddy.
“I am not that impressed with my own work,” said Lo, who had never designed a rice paddy mural before.
“The buffalo looks too thin to me,” he said.
Nevertheless, hundreds of tourists have flocked to see his creation, enjoying both the unique artwork and the rustic charm of the countryside. Lo and other officials said they want to continue to explore the potential of agricultural tourism and perhaps develop a new business model.
“If you treat the rice paddies as billboards, a whole new niche market could be created,” said Chang Su-chen (張素貞), a researcher at a government agricultural station in Miaoli.
Chang said the station is encouraging farmers to work with interested individuals or companies to grow specially designed rice paddies.
Patterns could include a company logo, a simple picture or even a marriage proposal. Such rice murals could turn traditional villages into tourist attractions, Chang said. She also said farmers will benefit from the potential partnerships due to the fees they could be paid and because they could sell the colored rice after the pattern has grown out. The technological skill to create a blueprint of a design will be provided by the agricultural station for free, Chang said.
To allow more room for creativity, Chang said, she and her colleagues are also working to develop more colorful rice types.
“We have created white and light-yellow strains so far,” she said. “We will be able to treat the rice paddies as real canvases in the near future.”
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
RSS