Yuan Longping

Yuan Longping was a Chinese agronomist and inventor who developed the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s, part of the Green Revolution in agriculture. His pioneering research has helped transform China from food deficiency to food security within three decades, and also benefited many other countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He was a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the director of the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center in Changsha. He was widely respected and honored in China and abroad for his contributions to global food security and poverty alleviation. He received many prestigious awards, such as the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award, the Wolf Prize in Agriculture, the World Food Prize, the Confucius Peace Prize, and the Order of the Republic. He was also a torchbearer for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations World Food Programme. Yuan Longping was born on September 7, 1930 in Beijing, China. He graduated from Southwest Agricultural College (now part of Southwest University) in 1953 and began his teaching career at Anjiang Agricultural School in Hunan province. He witnessed the devastating famine that killed tens of millions of people in China during the Great Leap Forward and devoted himself to finding ways to increase rice production. He became interested in hybridization after reading about similar research in maize and sorghum. In 1961, he discovered a stalk of hybrid rice in the wild and began to search for naturally occurring male-sterile plants that could be used to produce hybrid seeds. In 1973, he successfully cultivated the first hybrid rice variety, which had a yield 20% higher than conventional varieties. He later developed more hybrid rice varieties and technologies, such as the two-line and three-line methods, super hybrid rice, and salt-tolerant rice. He also cooperated with international organizations and foreign countries to share his knowledge and experience in hybrid rice. He led or participated in more than 50 overseas trips to promote hybrid rice in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. He also trained hundreds of scientists and technicians from around the world in hybrid rice research and development. Yuan Longping died on May 22, 2021 at the age of 90 in Changsha, Hunan province, after being hospitalized for more than two months due to multiple organ failure. He was mourned by millions of people in China and abroad, who expressed their gratitude and admiration for his life and work. He was buried at the Tangren Wanshou cemetery in Changsha on May 24, 2021, with a state funeral and a national flag draped over his coffin. His remains were laid to rest next to a hybrid rice field, where he had spent most of his time and energy.