‘Agriculture-Tourism Convergence’ Pohang Landscape Agriculture ... Capturing Both Attractions and Income Increase

Pohang City is successfully capturing two goals at once?providing tourists with attractions and increasing farmers' income?through the successful establishment of 'landscape agriculture,' which involves planting various flowers and plants according to the seasons in the area around Homigot Sunrise Plaza.

Sunflower landscape complex created near Homigot Sunrise Plaza in Pohang.

Landscape agriculture refers to a new paradigm of agriculture that combines farming and tourism by utilizing crops to create beautiful landscapes as tourist resources. It offers tourists unique sights while generating economic benefits for local farmers, thereby enhancing the value of rural areas.

According to Pohang City on the 25th, since 2018, they have been cultivating scenic crops such as canola flowers, buckwheat flowers, and green barley on 33 hectares (100,000 pyeong) of rice paddies in Daebo-ri, Homigot-myeon, and this year expanded the cultivation area to 50 hectares (150,000 pyeong).

Instead of insisting on rice farming in this coastal area where sea breezes are strong and typhoons make crop cultivation difficult, the city transformed the fields into flower gardens with various colors each season through a change in perspective.

Accordingly, the fields change their colors seasonally: spring (March to May) with canola flowers and green, black, and purple barley; summer (May to July) with colored barley, buckwheat flowers, and sunflowers; and autumn (August to September) with buckwheat flowers and sunflowers, dressing the landscape in white and yellow hues.

The waves of flowers harmonizing with the blue sky and the jade-colored Yeongil Bay create a picturesque scene, offering a unique visual experience. The city has installed pavilions, photo zones, walking paths, benches, and night lighting for tourists.

Connected with famous tourist spots such as Homigot Sunrise Plaza?where the sun rises first on the Korean Peninsula?the Hand of Coexistence sculpture, the National Lighthouse Museum, and the recently designated Pohang Local Heritage Road’s ‘Gumanri Eagle Rock,’ visitors from across the country come not only on weekends but also weekdays to create unforgettable memories and take ‘life photos’ in the flower fields.

Won Hyeong-seok and Seo Hee-jung, a couple residing in Yangdeok-dong, Pohang, said, “The flowers are very beautiful and the flower fields are wide, so we make sure to visit and enjoy dates every time the season changes. Seeing the continuous flow of cars coming to see the flowers every weekend, it definitely seems to help attract tourists and revitalize the commercial district.”

Additionally, this initiative contributes to solving the problem of oversupply and stock increase of rice among farmers. The yield and quality of buckwheat flowers and barley, which are sold out entirely, have improved each year as know-how accumulates, helping to increase farmers’ income.

In March, the ‘Homiban Peninsula Canola Flower Opening Ceremony’ was held, offering more than 20 types of attractions including canola flowers, colored barley, canola ice cream, and local barley-based beer tastings. Over 30,000 tourists visited, invigorating the local economy.

Furthermore, the ‘Guryongpo Landscape Agriculture Local Specialty Product Experience and Sales Center’ opened in March this year, expected to further promote direct and indirect regional economic revitalization through landscape agriculture.

A city official stated, “By integrating rural tourism into the tourism infrastructure of Homigot, one of the best sunrise spots on the East Coast, we are adding the charm of ecological tourism unique to Pohang and becoming a representative ecological tourism destination in Korea. We will continue to make efforts to activate and expand landscape agriculture complexes in the future.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.