Yang Yuanzhu: On the Anniversary of Yuan Longping's Passing, Is the World’s Food Secure?

With Yang Yuanzhu, vice president and chief rice expert of Longping High-Tech

The 22 May was the first anniversary of the passing of Academician Yuan Longping, Father of Hybrid Rice. Yuan Longping had long been committed to promoting hybrid rice to the world, and "developing hybrid rice for the benefit of the world's people" was his lifelong pursuit and dream. Since 1979, when Chinese hybrid rice first went abroad, it has been researched and promoted in dozens of countries and regions, making a significant contribution to world food security and the spread of fine seed technology.

Located in Changsha, Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture Co., Ltd. is the largest hybrid rice breeding company in China, with the world's largest market share of hybrid rice. The company's vice president and chief rice expert Yang Yuanzhu recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Service's East Meets West, explaining what good solutions the "magic rice of the East" can offer for world food security.

The summary of the interview is as follows:

CNS: At present, how is the promotion and application of Chinese hybrid rice technology overseas?

Yang Yuanzhu: Since the successful research and large-scale promotion in the 1970s, the Chinese government, the United Nations Development Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, and other international organisations have carried out a series of hybrid rice technical assistance to the world's major rice-growing countries. In the early 1990s, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations listed the promotion of hybrid rice as the first strategic measure to solve the problem of food shortages in developing countries.

A rice harvesting ceremony of the China Agricultural Technical Cooperation Group for Senegal in 2018.

Photo by Longping High-Tech, China News Service

Currently, Chinese hybrid rice technology is being tested and demonstrated in at least 40 countries around the world, with a large-scale promotion in more than a dozen countries, including the United States, India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Indonesia, and with an annual planting area of more than 6 million hectares and a typical yield increase of 2 tonnes per hectare over local conventional rice.

The United States was the first country to introduce hybrid rice technology from China, and in 1979, the American Circle Seed Company introduced three hybrid rice varieties from China for trial planting, with yields ranging from 165% to 180% higher than those of fine American varieties. The following year, the US and China signed an agreement on the transfer of hybrid rice seed production technology, and the Chinese side sent experts to the US to teach the technology, which soon became a success. Today, the proportion of hybrid rice planted in the USA is nearly 60%, with an annual planting area of about 600,000 hectares.

Vietnam was the first country to directly use Chinese hybrid rice, with a maximum annual planting area of over 700,000 hectares. Pakistan is the fastest growing South Asian country for hybrid rice, with currently more than 20% of its annual planted area. India has over 3.3 million hectares of hybrid rice planted annually, accounting for 8% of the area sown with rice, and is the largest country outside of China to grow hybrid rice.

CNS: How many stages has China's hybrid rice gone through to "go global"?

Yang Yuanzhu: It has probably gone through three stages. First, before 2007, it was at the "product going global" stage, mainly to carry out seed export trade, that is, to directly sell the commercial seed of hybrid rice to foreign seed enterprises. The second was the "localisation" stage, where Chinese seed enterprises set up overseas hybrid rice research and development centres (breeding stations) to "localise" breeding and produce hybrid rice varieties that are truly suitable for the target country. The third is the fledgling 'foreign investment' phase, in which Chinese seed companies set up joint ventures with foreign seed companies to accelerate the industrialisation of hybrid rice overseas.

Yang Yuanzhu's team worked on hybrid rice selection at the Longping High-Tech breeding station in Pakistan (Lahore).

Photo by Longping High-Tech, China News Service

CNS: What are the main difficulties confronting the overseas promotion of hybrid rice? What efforts has China made to solve these problems?

Yang Yuanzhu: The overseas promotion of hybrid rice faces three main difficulties.

First is the limitation of domestic hybrid rice variety resources. In the past, Chinese hybrid rice had a weak resistance to bacterial diseases and rice lice in tropical regions such as South Asia and Southeast Asia, and it was risky to plant during the rainy season. Moreover, the soil of rice fields in these places is infertile, and the level of fertilisation is low, so the potential for yield increase is not high. In addition, most Chinese hybrid rice varieties have low straight-chain starch content and are very sticky, which is not suitable for countries such as India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, which are used to eating pilaf.

Secondly, the overall strength of Chinese seed enterprises is not strong. Due to low investment in research and development and lack of international research and development talent, most seed companies do not have "localised" research and development support and are still at the seed trading stage. As domestic hybrid rice seed production costs rise year by year, export profits are getting lower and lower, and it is difficult to rely on exports alone for sustainable development.

Thirdly, farmers in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, and other developing countries are lagging in scientific farming methods and are unable to implement good seeds and methods, which also brings certain obstacles to the promotion of hybrid rice.

In response to these problems, China has made the following efforts:

Firstly, it has established a "research and development first" strategy for hybrid rice going global. Chinese seed companies and research institutes have established hybrid rice research and development centres (breeding stations) in target countries to carry out targeted "localised" breeding, focusing on traits such as pest and disease resistance, resistance to collapse, low fertility tolerance, and specific qualities, which have significantly improved the ecological adaptability of hybrid rice varieties. For example, Longping High-Tech has set up overseas hybrid rice research and development centres in the Philippines, Pakistan, India, and Vietnam, and the Sanya Overseas Hybrid Rice Research and Development Centre in Hainan to manage overseas hybrid rice breeding stations. By 2021, the company had validated 31 new hybrid rice varieties overseas and sold over 6,800 tonnes of overseas hybrid rice seeds in the year, with 100% of the sold products being locally developed. China National Rice Research Institute has also set up hybrid rice research centres in Indonesia and Pakistan, which are making good headway.

Secondly, hybrid rice industrialisation companies have been set up in target countries to promote local production and significantly reduce seed production costs. The general overseas seed production purchase price per kilogram is more than 30% lower than that at home, which has significantly increased the benefits of the seed industry.

Thirdly, international training on hybrid rice has been strengthened. China's Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and Ministry of Science and Technology have all established international training programmes for hybrid rice. As the first "China Hybrid Rice Technology Training Base for Foreign Countries" granted by the Ministry of Commerce, Longping High-Tech has held more than 100 international training courses on hybrid rice and trained nearly 10,000 agricultural officials and agricultural experts in more than 100 countries, laying a solid foundation of talents for hybrid rice to "go global".

Yuan Longping taught African trainees in the field.

Photo by Longping High-tech, China News Service

CNS: From the research practice of hybrid rice in China, what do you think is the significance of international cooperation on germplasm resources to ensure world food security?

Yang Yuanzhu: Germplasm resources are the material basis for breeding innovation, and the breeding of new breakthrough varieties depends on the discovery and use of excellent germplasm resources by breeders. In addition to the discovery of "wild abortive" cytoplasmic sterile germplasm, the success of hybrid rice research in China has also benefited from the effective use of restoring germplasm from Southeast Asian countries or regions.

Germplasm resources regionally evolve, and specific germplasm is the result of long-term stresses from biotic and abiotic adversities in a region; it is difficult for a country or region to have all the germplasm resources. After more than half a century of development, China's hybrid rice now possesses some of the world's best hybrid rice germplasm. Crossbreeding and improving germplasm resources with those from Southeast and South Asia will undoubtedly play a huge role in accelerating the breeding of overseas hybrid rice varieties. Therefore, international cooperation on germplasm resources is of great importance in promoting the exchange of excellent germplasm resources, the excavation of superior genes and genetic improvement, accelerating the breeding of breakthrough varieties, and ensuring world food security.

CNS: How has China's hybrid rice research achieved so much? What can a greater contribution be made to the issue of world food security?

Yang Yuanzhu: The outstanding achievements of China's hybrid rice research are mainly due to the following factors:

First is the urgent need to ensure national food security. It was the original intention and mission of Academician Yuan Longping to use the advantages of hybrid rice to significantly increase rice yields and solve the problem of food security for more than one billion Chinese people. Secondly, a large number of Chinese breeders, led by Academician Yuan, have been working in the field and are committed to "writing their theses on the earth", which has led to the breakthrough and success of hybrid rice technology in China. Thirdly, the state has attached great importance to and strongly supported the project. The nationwide exchanges, collaborations, and battles have overcome each and every hurdle, which has fully demonstrated the advantages of concentrating efforts on major issues under the socialist system. Fourthly, as one of the birthplaces of rice, China is rich in rice germplasm resources, which has laid the foundation of genetic material for the success of hybrid rice research.

The "giant rice" was successfully planted on a trial basis in Changhong Village, Shiwan Town, Dazu District, Chongqing, with an estimated yield of 1,600 kg per mu.

Photo by He Penglei, China News Service

The success of hybrid rice research and its large-scale application is the best answer given by Chinese science and technology workers, represented by Yuan Longping, to American Lester Brown's question of "who will feed China". "China's rice bowls are filled with Chinese food, and the rice bowls of the Chinese people are firmly in the hands of the Chinese themselves", which is China's solemn commitment and positive contribution to the world. At a time when we are in the community of a shared future for mankind, and the food security situation is critical, we are more obliged to undertake the mission of the times and contribute China's wisdom, solutions, and strength to realise Academician Yuan Longping's "dream of global coverage of hybrid rice" and to solve the issue of world food security.

The profile of the Interviewee:

Yang Yuanzhu, Photo from the Interviewee

Yang Yuanzhu, Vice President and Chief Rice Expert of Yuan Long Ping High-Tech Agriculture Co., Ltd., is also a member of the Rice Specialised Committee of the National Crop Variety Approval Committee, a member of the National Crop Germplasm Resource Management Committee, and a doctoral supervisor of Hunan Agricultural University and Nanjing Agricultural University. He has long been engaged in hybrid rice research and has undertaken more than 30 research projects. He has presided over the breeding of 349 hybrid rice varieties, of which 216 have been reviewed in China, and the cumulative area promoted is more than 600 million mu. He has been awarded the special government allowance from the State Council, national youth experts in science and technology with outstanding contributions, national model workers, national outstanding science and technology workers, top ten outstanding figures in China's seed industry, and national innovation and pioneering awards.

Editor: Zhang Yanling