Sign In
Learn bits
World Affairs
Pradeep Kumar

23/05/21 12:15 PM IST

China’s ‘father of hybrid rice’ is no more

In news

Yuan Longping, a Chinese agricultural scientist whose breakthroughs in hybrid rice brought food security to China and transformed agriculture worldwide, died at the age of 91.

Works of Yuan Longping
  • In 2004, he was honoured with the World Food Prize “for his breakthrough achievement in developing the genetic materials and technologies essential for breeding high-yielding hybrid rice varieties”.
  • His “new hybrid rice technology not only benefited China, but was also enthusiastically adopted in other countries.
  • His desire to experiment with rice was borne out of hardship.
  • In 1960, when he was 30 years old, China was in the midst of a famine unleashed by Mao Zedong’s “Great Leap Forward” policy in 1958 that devastated the agriculture sector and led to mass starvation and the deaths of millions.
  • In 1986, Yuan brought up the hybrid rice breeding strategy from the three-line hybrid rice strain to a two-line, and later on to a one-line variety. The two-line technique means that the hybrid rice seeds are cultivated with the male sterile and restorer lines only, which will call for less complicated techniques, save labor and cut costs.
  • His more recent achievements included developing varieties of saline-alkali tolerant rice with his team.
Source: The Hindu

More Related Current Affairs View All

21 Aug

Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025

'The Lok Sabha recently passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill 2025.' The bill encourages e-sports and online social games while prohibiting harmful online mo

Read More

21 Aug

Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah introduces the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025

'Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah  introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, the Union Territories (Amendmen

Read More

20 Aug

How should toll collection practices be reformed?

'The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has proposed major changes to toll collection on national highways, including a recommendation to end the practice of perpetual t

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps