How much contribution has the hybrid rice studied by Academician Yuan Longping made to mankind?

Academician Yuan Longping’s hybrid rice has made the following three major contributions to mankind.

1. Cultivate excellent new hybrid rice varieties

After academician Yuan Longping’s research, many hybrid rice varieties have been developed, some of which have quite outstanding advantages. In areas frequented by typhoons, farmers suffer heavy losses when encountering typhoons just before harvest time, leaving farmers in tears. With lodging-resistant hybrid rice, farmers' losses will be greatly reduced even if a typhoon passes through. Some varieties of hybrid rice are significantly resistant to rice blast and bacterial blight, reducing the use of pesticides and making the rice more organic and greener. In addition to lodging- and disease-resistant hybrid rice, Academician Yuan has also developed excellent varieties that are cold-resistant, drought-resistant, and barren-resistant, so that rice can be planted more widely.

2. Increase rice yield

The hybrid rice cultivated by Academician Yuan Longping has large ears and many grains, which greatly increases the yield per mu of rice. When I was a child, my mother said that during the big pot rice era, the rice harvest would only be 50% to 60%. Later, hybrid rice was planted and the harvest was 100%. In good years, the harvest was even 110-120%. Whether it is an area with sparse fields or an area with vast fields, the yield per mu is very important. Farmers are looking forward to a good harvest. This is their rations and their source of income.

3. Reduce the number of hungry people in the world

Academician Yuan Longping’s hybrid rice has a high yield, which solves my country’s food and clothing problem and also reduces the number of hungry people in the world. Our country has a large population, accounting for about 1/5 of the world's population. Solving the problem of food and clothing for our people is of great significance to our country and even the world. Nowadays, hybrid rice is cultivated on a large scale in Southeast Asia and the United States, and people abroad also eat hybrid rice, thereby reducing the number of hungry people in the world.