Nikkei Asia Prizes 1996

Researcher strains to produce better rice

"If you want money, ask Deng Xiaoping. If you want a belly full of rice, ask Professor Yuan. "That saying reflects the reputation of Yuan Longping, director of the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, located in the suburbs of Changsha, the major city of Hunan Province.

Yuan, 65, is a pioneer in the development of hybrid rice strains. His varieties include a type that does not reproduce but yields at least 20% more rice per plant as in Japan. About half of all paddies under cultivation in China are planted with hybrid rice.

Until the early 1960s, China often suffered famines. But two separate technical revolutions in rice horticulture changed that: the introduction in the mid-1960s of a short-stemmed plant with sturdier stalks, and a hybrid variety developed by Yuan in the mid-1970s.

Serendipity led to the development of the hybrid. After graduating from Xinan Agricultural University in Sichuan Province, Yuan took a teaching job at an agricultural school in Hunan Province in southern China. Seeing the impoverished life of the rural villagers, he decided to try to develop a high-yielding rice strain.

His first development, about 1962, was a fast-growing, hardy plant. But, although he was overjoyed with it, quality varied and his expectations were shattered. Nevertheless, that first plant provided a big clue.

He began full-scale research into hybrid rice in 1964, but his initial results were less than remarkable. At that time, although research was under way in Japan as well, only published results from the Soviet Union had made their way into China. He had a number of demoralizing failures, but finally achieved success after nine agonizing years.

He produced a variety with higher yields and uniform quality by crossing 29 South No.1, a strain bred from wild plants of the island province of Hainan, with IR24, developed by the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines.

About this time, the Chinese government took notice of the research and created a national project with about 1,000 researchers from around the country. Yuan led the program.

Today, Yuan is concerned with developing technology that will lead to a new revolution in rice crops. He warns that China's food supply is under great strain due to its growing population.

Using the latest techniques in biotechnology, Yuan is entering the third stage of his research - one that may see yields increase many-fold within one or two years. He has confidence that China can resolve its food-supply problem on its own.

Yuan's greatest joy is to be in the paddies nurturing his plants. His dream is to discover something new - a hybrid rice plant that he can deliver to the world to help eliminate famine.