AlDub-inspired rice paddy kindles youth’s interest in agriculture

The rice paddy in Nueva Ecija with Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza's faces imprinted on it has become a popular destination for AlDub fans.

The AlDub rice paddy art is a project of the Philippine Rice Institute’s (PhilRice) FutureRice program, which implements sustainable agriculture practices and enterprise development in a demonstration farm.

Program leader Roger Barroga said they hope to raise millennials' interest in rice farming and agriculture.

“This is one of our strategies to make the youth of today be more informed about the current situation of rice farming in the country. There are many opportunities that await them in agriculture,” Barroga said in a press statement.

The technique used to create the art was developed in Japan and uses the anamorphosis principle, in which the effect of an artwork will only properly appear when viewed from a certain angle. It is a popular principle used in 3D street and room art.

In a post on the FutureRice website, Information and Communications Technology specialist Nehemiah Caballong said they processed the AlDub design specimen through photo-editing software to incorporate it in the dimension of the field.

“We adjusted the image to the vantage point of the viewing area. Then, we processed it into grids to determine where to plant the rice varieties on a certain coordinate in the field,” he said.

The project used purple rice provided by PhilRice’s Genetic Resources Divisions.

Main Mendoza tweeted about the art and as of posting it has garnered over 11,000 retweets and 27,000 likes.

Wow this is super cool! Galing!!! https://t.co/NjmRazvWMi

— Maine Mendoza (@mainedcm) 15 de marzo de 2016

The rice paddy art will be available for viewing until April 3. Some netizens have already posted their photos with the popular art. -Kiersnerr Gerwin Tacadena/BM,GMA News