FatherofHybridRice--YuanLongping

　　YuanLongping,aChineseagriculturalist,wasborninQianyang,HunanProvincein1930.ProfessorYuangraduatedfromSouthwestAgricultureCollegein1953andhassincedevotedhimselftoagriculturaleducationandresearch.HeiscurrentlyanacademicianoftheChineseAcademyofEngineering,DirectorGeneralofChinaNationalHybridRiceResearchandDevelopmentCenter,HonoraryPresidentoftheHunanAcademyofAgriculturalSciencesinChinaandVice-ChairmanofHunanProvincialCommitteeoftheChinesePeople'sPoliticalConsultativeConference.ProfessorYuanwasapioneerinhybridriceresearchandmaderemarkableachievementsinthisarea,firstdevelopinghybridriceintheworld.TheachievementsofYuanLongpinggreatlysolvedthefoodshortage,andprovidedasasolutiontheworldwidestarvation.ItisregardedasthefifthinventionafterChina'sFourMajorInventions,andisacclaimedastheSecondGreenRevolution.Hewasawardedwithmanyinternationalawards,suchasGoldMedalAwardfortheOutstandingInventoroftheUnitedNationsWorldIntellectualPropertyOrganization,SciencePrizeofUnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCulturalOrganization,RankPrizeforAgronomyandNutritionoftheUnitedKingdom,MedalofHonorforFoodSecurityandSustainableDevelopmentoftheUnitedNationsFoodandAgricultureOrganization,andFukuiInternationalKoshihikariRicePrizeofJapan.

　　YuanLongpingstartedtheresearchofindicahybridin1964.Atthebeginning,hediscoveredmale-sterilerice.Thenhebroughtforwardhthirdhybridingpaddyandcarriedoutexperimentsonfarmland.YuanLongpingmadebreakthroughin1973.Hewasthefirstpersontodevelopindicahybridrice.ThenewtechnologywastestedinmanyareasofSouthChinain1974and1975,andthenextendedtootherareas.Chinabecamethefirstcountrythatiscapableofproducinghybridrice.YuanLongpingisthefirstscientistwhosuccessfullyalteredtheself-pollinatingcharacteristicofriceandrealizedlarge-scalefarmingofhybridrice.Thisearnedhimthetitle"FatherofHybridRice".

　　HispioneeringworkinhybridricebreedingandproductiontechniqueshasrevolutionizedricecultivationinChina,establishingChina'sworldleadingpositioninhybridriceresearch.From1976to1987,thetotalcultivatedareaofthehybridricedevelopedbyYuanreached1.1billionmu(15mu=1hectares),andincreasedriceyieldby100billionkg.In1979,thehybridricewastransferredasChina'sfirstagro-technologypatenttotheUnitedStates.Atpresent,thehybridricedevelopedbyYuanisplantedonthefarmlandsalloverChina,whichplayedanimportantroleinincreasingChina'sgrainproduction.Itmadepossiblethefeedingof22%oftheworldpopulationononly7%oftheworld'stotalarableland.