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One of the most important scientists in contemporary China, YuanLongping spent over 50 years in agricultural research and made a remarkable contribution in solving the problem of feeding the massive population of China.
Yuan Longping: Father of Hybrid Rice
1 Yuan Longping, a Chineseagronomist (农学家) known as the "father of hybrid (杂交) rice", is renowned for his tireless (孜孜不倦的) work in the fight against starvation and helping to meet the world's demand for rice by promoting technologies of hybrid rice. His dedication to rice production increase dates back to the mid-20th century when China was going through a tough time.
2 Born into an intellectual family in 1930 and a graduate from Southwest Agriculture Institute, now part of Southwest University, in 1953, Yuan began his teaching career at an agriculture school in Anjiang, Hunan Province. As a young teacher in Hunan's countryside, Yuan witnessed the devastation(灾难) brought about by a nationwide famine (饥荒), which lasted from 1959 to 1961. Many people died from hunger. He vowed (发誓) to do something and decided to set his personal goal in life — to help all people stay away from hunger.
The Odyssey (漫漫长路) to Super Hybrid Rice
3 Yuan came up with an idea for hybridizing rice in the 1960s. Back then, rice was thought to be self-pollinating (自花传粉的), which was an unarguable (不容置疑的) scientific theory. After a flurry (一连串) of failed experiments to prove this theory, Yuan decided to challenge the "truth" and hence immersed (使投入) himself in rice hybridization experiments.
4 In 1964, he happened to find a natural hybrid rice plant that had obvious advantages over others. Greatly encouraged, he began to study the elements of this particular type. He examined a total of more than 14,000 rice strains (品种)and discovered 6 strains of natural male sterility (不育) line. Through experimental observation, he finally confirmed that male sterility is generic (普遍的). In 1966, he published his findings in Science Bulletin. This first paper of his was immediately regarded as "the pioneer of the study of hybrid rice in China". His subsequent (随后的) experiments showed that male-sterile (雄性不育的) natural species could be crossed with other plants.
5 In 1973, in cooperation with others, he succeeded in cultivating (培育) a hybrid rice species called Nanyou 2, which could reach a yield (产量) of over 500 kg per mu (0.067 hectares公顷) from the previous 300 kg, 20 percent more than the ordinary variety. In 1979, their technique for hybrid rice was introduced into the United States, the first case of intellectual property rights transfer (转移) in the history of the PRC.
6 At present, as much as 50 percent of China's total rice fields grow Yuan Longping's hybrid rice species and yield 60 percent of the rice production in China. Due to Yuan's hard work, China's total rice output (产量) rose from 5.69 billion tons in 1950 to 19.47 billion tons in 2000.
7 According to China's second white paper on food security in 2019, China has basically achieved self-sufficiency (自给自足) in grain (谷物) supply. In terms of rice, there's a surplus (剩余) in production.
Yuan's Biggest Dream
8 "I saw rice plants as tall as Chinese sorghum (高粱)," said Yuan Longping of a dream he once had, "each ear of rice as big as a broom and each grain of rice as huge as a peanut (花生). I could hide in the shadow of the rice crops with a friend."
9 But Yuan's biggest dream in life was to develop more hybrid rice varieties to address the famine that keeps happening in many parts of the world. "A grain of rice can save a country or knock down a country", said he in an interview with CCTV. "It's my great pleasure to help other developing countries develop hybrid rice to solve their food shortage problems. I am confident that through our joint efforts the goal will be realized in the near future."
10 In 1994, Lester Russel Brown of the Worldwatch Institute published an article entitled Who Will Feed China and came up with a book of the same title the next year, warning that the huge Chinese population would starve the world. In response, Yuan said, "Mr. Brown underestimated the potential of science and technology in field yield increase."
11 Two years later, Yuan started developing super hybrid rice breeding (培育). "If we can raise the utility rate (利用率) of luminous (发光的) energy by 2.5 percent, then we'll have a yield of 1,500 kg per mu." He was confident and undaunted (无畏的). And his effort paid off as the goal was achieved in 2020.
12 Over the past 40 years,Yuan and his team continuously held seminars (研讨会) and courses and taught his methodologies (方法) to some 14,000 students from nearly 80 countries. The agronomist, when in his old age, still traveled to as far as Africa to help solve technical failures and boost harvests. He was also engaged in cultivating salt-alkali (盐碱) tolerant (有耐受性的) rice, bringing rice grown in diluted (稀释的) seawater to people's tables. Two months before he passed away, he was still conducting scientific research at the Sanya Hybrid Rice Research Base in China's southernmost province of Hainan.
13 His pioneering research not only helped enhance food security in China, but helped transform the world. Rice farmers from various countries have benefited from his work. So far, the hybrid varieties he developed have been grown extensively in over 40 countries, including the U.S., Brazil, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Madagascar among others.
Money and Fame
14 To boost his researchin hybrid rice varieties, a seed company by the name of Longping High-Tech was officially founded in 1999 and listed (上市) in 2000. Yuan Longping was appointed Honorary Chairman of the company. Under the guidance of the spirit of Academician Yuan, Longping High-Tech has inherited Yuan's dream of creation, adhered to innovation and soon became "the first brand in Chinese seed industry". In 2017, the brand value of the name "YuanLongping" was estimated at 100 billion yuan. But Yuan cared for nothing but his research. "That figure means nothing," he once said in an interview with CCTV. "Too much money means a burden. My mind is on my research only." But he admitted that the listing may help China's hybrid rice in the international market and bring more funds for future projects.
15 Throughout his life, he had been awarded (授予) with a lot of honors, titles (头衔) and prizes. An asteroid (小行星) was named after him. In 2004, Yuan Longping received the World Food Prize for his breakthrough achievement in developing technologies essential for breeding high-yielding hybrid rice varieties. In 2019, Yuan, an academician of both the Chinese Academy (研究院) of Engineering and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, was awarded the Medal of the Republic, China's highest honor, for his groundbreaking research work. Despite his success, which brought him unparalleled (空前的) recognition and attention, Yuan kept a low profile (低调) for most of his life and kept the values of humility close to his heart. "I am afraid of fame," said Yuan in aninterview on TV, his face lean (瘦的), wrinkled (有皱纹的) and sun-burnt, "Too big a fame, too little freedom."
16 Yuan Longping's road to success was full of thorns (荆棘), hardships, frustrations and failures, but he enjoyed his career and devoted his entire life to it. When he turned 90, Yuan had a video chat with some students from Southwest University, during which he said, “The secret of my success lies in the formula: Knowledge + Sweat + Inspiration +Opportunity = Success.”
