Yuan Longping (b. 1930)

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Biography

Yuan Longping was a Chinese agronomist and inventor. He was a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s, part of the Green Revolution in agriculture. For his contributions, Yuan is known as the "Father of Hybrid Rice". Yuan was bestowed the Medal of the Republic, the highest honorary medal of the People's Republic of China, in September 2019.

Timeline

The story of Yuan Longping, told in moments.

1964 Life

Discovered a naturally occurring male-sterile rice plant in a paddy field. It was the breakthrough he needed. Conventional wisdom said rice couldn't be hybridized. He spent the next decade proving otherwise.

What was it like finding that one male-sterile rice plant? Did conventional wisdom saying rice couldn't be hybridized motivate you? Was the decade of work after the discovery lonely?

1974 Life

Developed the first successful hybrid rice variety. Yields were 20% higher than conventional strains. China adopted hybrid rice nationwide within a decade. By 2000, half of China's rice paddies grew his varieties.

How did 20% higher yields change China? Did seeing half of China's paddies grow your varieties feel miraculous? Was feeding a nation your goal from the beginning?

2004 Event

Won the World Food Prize and the Wolf Prize in Agriculture in the same year. His hybrid rice technology had spread to dozens of countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. China was feeding 20% of the world's population on 9% of its arable land.

Do the World Food Prize and Wolf Prize in the same year feel like recognition overdue? How many countries use your technology now? Is feeding 20% of the world on 9% of its farmland your proudest statistic?

Artifacts (13)

to bring forth what they [the Sunnis] have suppressed.

the atmosphere of fear and intimidation under the Abbasids. In particular, Ibn Shahrashub said that he wrote his Manaqib Ale Abi Talib "to bring forth what they [the Sunnis] have suppressed." An...

Works Talk

The Shi'ite Religion - A History of Islam in Persia and Irak. AMS Press

1933

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Occultation of the Twelfth Imam - A Historical Background (PDF). Routledge

1986

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"ḠOLĀT". Encyclopedia Iranica. Vol. XI/1. pp. 62–64

2001

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"'Abbāsids". The New Encyclopedia of Islam. Alta Mira. pp. 11–14

2008

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"QOM I - History to the Safavid Period". Encyclopaedia Iranica (Online ed.)

2009

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"'Alī al-Hādī". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. I/8. pp. 861–862

2011

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The Caliph's Splendor - Islam and the West in the Golden Age of Baghdad

2012

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A History of Shi'i Islam. I.B. Tauris

2013

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"Moḥammad al-Jawād, Abu

2016

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"Muhammad al-Taqi". In Netton, Ian Richard (ed.). Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilisation and Religion. Routledge. p. 433

2008

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Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver Shi'ism - From Ali to Post-Khomeini. Routledge

2013

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"Jawad, Imam". Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam (in Persian). Vol. 11. Encyclopaedia Islamica Foundation

2014

Works Talk

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