People pay tribute to agricultural pioneer Yuan Longping on Sunday at his former workplace, the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, in Changsha, Hunan province. Yuan died on Saturday at age 91. [Photo by Yang Huafeng/China News Service]

Yuan remembered for breakthroughs in developing high-yield strains of crop

When a hearse drove out of Xiangya Hospital, affiliated with Central South University, in Changsha, Hunan province, at about 4 pm on Saturday, people gathered on the roadside in the rain to see it off.

Drivers stopped their cars and sounded their horns to show respect, and people on both sides of the street cried out, "Grandpa Yuan, we wish you a peaceful life in another world."

Yuan Longping, dubbed the "father of hybrid rice", who died from multiple organ failure on Saturday at age 91, will long be remembered for his contribution to help feed the world.

The scientist was globally respected for his breakthroughs in developing the genetic materials and technologies essential for breeding high-yield hybrid rice varieties.

On behalf of President Xi Jinping, Xu Dazhe, secretary of the Communist Party of China Hunan Provincial Committee, made a special visit to Yuan's family on Sunday afternoon and conveyed the president's deep condolences for their loss.

Xi spoke highly of Yuan's contributions to China's food security, agricultural science and technology innovation, as well as global food development. He called on Party members and science and technology workers to learn from Yuan, emphasizing that the best way to memorialize the scientist is to learn from him.

Yuan was awarded the Medal of the Republic in September 2019, among the many honors he received at home and abroad. He was also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center.

The generosity of Yuan, and other researchers, in making their breakthroughs available to the world has been profoundly important in efforts to end global hunger, said Barbara Stinson, president of the United States-based World Food Prize Foundation, which awarded Yuan the 2004 World Food Prize, the top international honor for people who have improved the quality, quantity or availability of food globally.

The UN said in a post on its Sina Weibo account on Saturday that Yuan made outstanding contributions to boosting food security, eradicating poverty and improving people's livelihoods.

A daughter-in-law of Yuan, surnamed Gan, told Xinhua News Agency that Yuan did not leave any last words, but when he was still able to speak, he kept mentioning hybrid rice and hoped that his students would develop well and promote the crop.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people came to say goodbye to Yuan.

At the Xiangya Hospital main gate on Saturday, in addition to numerous bouquets, people left three bunches of rice plants in memory of Yuan, who solved the problem of food for millions of people not only in China but around the world.