A rice paddy art installation at the Batac City campus of Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) aims to boost tourism revenues and food security.

In a briefing on Monday, Cynthiamay Lapat, Science Research Specialist 1 of the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Batac, said high-yielding rice varieties are featured in field demonstration sites for farmers and other stakeholders.

“Different rice varieties with special features are featured so that our farmers can select the best for them,” she said.

On Monday, 30 agriculture students joined the transplanting of a rice paddy art in front of the administration building of the MMSU-Batac.

It is the seventh year of installation and features Senator Imee Marcos.

The MMSU and PhilRice created the rice paddy art using IR 1552, a traditional purple rice variety, and NSIC Rc222, which is a high-yielding inbred variety.

To create the paddy design, the planters used the anamorphosis principle, a technique used in 3D art where a picture looks distorted but appears normal when viewed from a certain angle.

The PhilRice design artists processed the paddy into grids to determine where to plant the rice varieties on certain coordinates in the field.

The rice paddy art has become part of MMSU’s eco-tourism effort over the years, attracting local and foreign tourists. (PNA)