Yuan Longping Talks About His Year of the Sheep Wish: Striving to Achieve the Super Rice Per-Hectare Target Ahead of Schedule

Yuan Longping (third from right) inspects rice ears in a super rice experimental field in Hunan Province. Photo by Zeng Yong (file photo)

“The target of 16 tons of super rice per hectare was originally planned for 2018, but we are striving to break through next year!” “The Year of the Sheep is almost here, and our super rice is the bellwether.” When talking about his Year of the Sheep wish, the famous rice expert Yuan Longping still spoke of his beloved rice. This 84-year-old man had just finished breeding in Hainan and rushed to Beijing on the evening of February 8 for a meeting. Amid Yuan Longping's tight schedule, we made several appointments and finally got to talk with him on the 9th about his story with rice.

Candid

Being pompous and pretentious does not work; it makes people dislike you

As China's “most famous farmer,” Yuan Longping has been given too many titles: “modern Shennong,” “master who knows how to farm,” “father of hybrid rice,” “outstanding figure in the seed industry.” In the minds of many people, the name Yuan Longping even represents the progress and confidence of Chinese science since reform and opening up.

“Too many, I have too many halos, 18 international awards alone,” Yuan Longping touched his head with his hand, leaned back, and smiled shyly. This old man who calls himself a “post-80s” generation has a sturdy build and quick thinking. Setting aside those “halos,” this scientist so closely associated with “not going hungry” is calm and full of confidence. He said, “Being pompous and pretentious does not work; it makes people dislike you.”

During interviews, it was often the case that before the reporter had even finished asking the question clearly, Yuan Longping had already answered it with rigorous logic. He is also very frank: “I have to accept at least 3 interviews every week, incredibly frequent.” His words were accompanied by hearty “hahaha” laughter. When asked about the amusing story that “someone was playing music behind him, and Yuan Longping held a violin just for show,” he laughed heartily, “I am a typical Mr. Nan Guo!”

Although he speaks with a thick “Hunan accent” when speaking Mandarin, Yuan Longping's English words are pronounced perfectly: “We say the United States is a superpower, super power country”; “Africans eat cassava, cassava.” If you praise his English, he smiles and says, “My English is broken English.”

Love

I go down to the fields every day to see my super rice

How much love is love, how much liking is liking? If you understand Yuan Longping's feelings for rice, you will know what it looks like when love and liking reach their extreme.

“I go down to the fields every day to see my dear super rice!” Whenever he talks about his super rice, Yuan Longping's eyes light up, and the deep emotion contained in them is moving.

In the 1990s, American economist Brown once asked the world: “Who will feed China in the 21st century?” Yuan Longping and his super rice not only forcefully answered this question, but also contributed to world peace and progress.

Yuan Longping once saw in a dream that rice grew as tall as sorghum and the grains were as large as peanut kernels, and he and his assistants sat under the rice ears to enjoy the cool.

Last October, the average yield per mu of the fourth-phase 100-mu plot of the super rice program reached 1026.7 kg, and the good news of another world record moved his “dream of enjoying the cool under the rice plants” one step forward and gave him more confidence. “Super rice still has a fifth phase, sixth phase, seventh phase……” Devoting himself to the breeding cause and using all his energy on researching rice, hybrid rice, and super hybrid rice means focusing on the fields and bringing warmth and fullness to all living people.

“We must build Hunan into a seed industry Silicon Valley.” “The president of South China Agricultural University calls my super rice the nuclear weapon of rice.” Never straying from his profession in three sentences, Yuan Longping cannot get through a single sentence without his dear super rice: “Nothing else is dear; only rice is dear.”

Rigorous

Bravely scaling new heights is a quality scientists should have, but the realization of a scientific dream must have a scientific basis

Because he discussed genetically modified organisms, Yuan Longping was once pushed onto the crest of public opinion. This time, other media outlets interviewing him at the same time finally raised this question again, and Yuan Longping said, why bring this up again…… Perhaps he truly feels helpless about these disturbances.

Yuan Longping most cherishes the title “agricultural scientist.” He is both an old farmer and a scientist. He introduced the “four good matches” and explained how the “dream of hybrid rice covering the globe” can be realized and how to break through the limit of rice yield. In his view, the realization of a scientific dream must have a scientific basis.

From the first phase to the fourth phase of the super rice program, the yield per mu successively broke through 700 kg, 800 kg, 900 kg, and 1000 kg. Each increase attracted much attention. Is there a peak for rice unit yield? “Some international rice experts believe that in theory the limit of rice yield is 15.9 tons per hectare. Our new goal is to break through this limit and reach a yield of 16 tons per hectare.” In his view, sprinting toward the limit and bravely scaling the heights of science are qualities and courage that scientists should have, but “a scientific dream must be realized through science.” Yuan Longping said that in theory, the utilization rate of surface solar energy by rice photosynthesis can reach 5%. At present, the national average rice yield per mu is about 800 jin, equivalent to using only 1%-2% of light energy. Through scientific and technological progress, as long as the light energy utilization rate is raised to half the theoretical level, it means doubling the yield per mu. The road to realizing the “dream of enjoying the cool under the rice plants” is still long, but this dream has a scientific basis.

May all people be warm and well fed. After the New Year, Yuan Longping will again be with his dear super rice, enjoying the happy time of being exposed to the sun and stepping in the mud.