Who Fed China’s Billions?
Born in 1930 in Beijing, he witnessed widespread famine at nineteen. Turning away from a promising official career, he chose to study agriculture. Despite repeated destruction of his experimental fields and being called a madman, he never gave up.
In 1964, after examining 140,000 rice plants under the scorching sun, he discovered the first male-sterile rice plant, laying the foundation for the three-line hybrid rice system. For the next seven years, he traveled across provinces, even tying seeds around his waist on trains to keep them warm.
In 1973, a wild rice plant with sterile pollen was found. Soon, hybrid varieties like Nanyou 1, Aiyou, Weiyou, and Shanyou were developed. Yield per mu rose from 500 kg to over 1,000 kg. Behind each precise number stood a Chinese person who no longer went hungry.
His name is Yuan Longping. He made China the first country to successfully harness hybrid rice for mass production. Even in his later years, he spent most of his time in the rice fields. When asked if he feared another famine, he smiled softly and said, “It won’t happen again. It won’t happen again.”