Yuan Longping

Yuan Longping was a Chinese agronomist whose research and breeding programs developed high-yield hybrid rice, helping increase rice production in China and other countries.

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Hybrid rice: Rice produced by crossing genetically distinct parent lines, often yielding more than either parent. The crop-breeding approach Yuan helped develop and promote.
Great Chinese Famine: A famine in China from 1959 to 1961 that caused tens of millions of deaths. The catastrophe sharpened the urgency of Yuan's search for higher-yielding crops.
Green Revolution: A period of agricultural change marked by high-yield crop varieties, expanded irrigation, and increased fertilizer use. Hybrid rice formed a distinct contribution to the wider effort to increase food production.
Li Zhengdao: A Chinese agronomist who collaborated with Yuan Longping on hybrid rice research. Li was among the researchers who helped identify and develop useful male-sterile rice material.
Inbred rice: Rice varieties maintained through repeated self-pollination to preserve stable inherited traits. Unlike hybrid seed, inbred varieties can usually be replanted without losing their defining genetic combination.
Heterosis: The tendency of hybrid offspring to outperform their parents in traits such as growth or yield. Hybrid rice exploits this increase in vigor to raise harvests.
Hunan Agricultural College: An agricultural college in Changsha, China, where Yuan Longping studied and later worked. Yuan's education and early research career were rooted at this institution.
Food security: A condition in which people have reliable access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Higher rice yields addressed one major constraint on food availability.
Xie Hua'an: A Chinese rice geneticist and breeder who contributed to hybrid rice research and crop improvement. His work represents the broader research community that advanced hybrid rice after its early development.
Semi-dwarf wheat: Wheat varieties bred with shorter stems that resist lodging and respond well to fertilizer. This Green Revolution strategy improved yields through plant architecture rather than hybrid seed production.