Paddy Art by Shrikant Ingalhalikar

Pune, 25 August 2021: Paddy Art is being practiced by creative Japanese farmers for the last 28 years which involves making giant pictures in rice fields by planting multi coloured rice plants.

This challenging art was pioneered in India by me 5 years back at my farm near Pune. The objective of paddy art is to preserve and celebrate the hand skills in traditional rice plantation in the present era of mechanisation.

Beginning with the iconic Lord Ganesh I have created rare life forms of Sahyadri forests such as animals and birds. After a washout last year due to untimely heavy rain, this year in June I experimented with creating an image of Indian Gaur by sowing paddy seeds of 2 varieties. This is followed by an image of ‘Jerdon’s Leafbird’ made by planting seedlings grown in Gaur image.

‘Jerdon’s Leafbird’ is a rare bird seen in evergreen forests of Sahyadri. It is difficult to spot due to its green colour but can be spotted with its sharp call.