Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2001

an effective means to solv e the food p r ob l em and eliminate starvation. Estimates have it that w o r l d population w i l l be double by the year 2030, and Prof. Yuan's research efforts are daily becoming more relevant as a solution to the p r ob l em of global foo d shortage. Today the farming of h y b r i d rice i n China takes u p about 230 m i l l i on mu of the country's cultivated land, wh i ch represent s half of the land devoted to p a d d y farming. Since 1976, the hybridization of rice has raised the national grain yield by nearly 400 billion kilograms. Furthermore, th e Na t i onal H y b r i d Ric e Research and Development Centre of China, of wh i c h Prof. Yuan is Director General, has initiated research on super rice, and test cultivation i n Yunnan has produce d a y i e ld as h i gh as 1,137 kilograms per mu, being the w o r l d record for single crop p a d dy farming. Over th e years China has produced remarkable results in the c u l t i v a t i on of short-stalk rice , h y b r i d rice a nd super h y b r i d rice that have been internationally acclaimed, and Prof. Yuan's role in all these undertakings is very significant. Prof. Yuan has h a d a wo r l dw i de reputation since the 1970s , and requests for technology transfer hav e come f r om Britain, the Un i t ed States, Australia, Japan , Italy and Egypt. I n 1979 he was given the accolad e of being named the 'Father of H y b r id Rice ' at an international conference on the subject, and he i s the recipient of nine important international awards. These include the W I PO Go ld Me d a l for the Outstanding Inventor (1985), the UNESCO Science Prize (1987), the Rank Prize for Ag r o n om y and Nu t r i t i on (1988, Britain), the A l an Shawn Feinstein Wo r ld Hunger Aw a rd for Research and Education (1993, Un i t ed States), the FAO Medal o f Honour for Food Security and Sustainable Development (1995, Canada), the first N i k k ei Asia Priz e Awa rd (1996, Japan), the Distinguished Pioneer Scientist i n Crop Heterosis Exploitation Awa rd (1997, Mexico), the Fu k ui International Koshihikari Rice Prize (1998, Japan), and the 'Magsaysay Prize' (2001, the Philippines). Furthermore, Prof. Yuan h a d the distinguished honour of being the first scientist t o receive, in 1981, the Special Class I n v en t i on Prize of th e People's Republic of China. I n 1989 h e was title d a National Progressive Worker, and i n 1992 was named a 'Meritoriou s Scientist'. In 1995 he received the Biology Prize awarded by the Ho-Leung-Ho-Lee Foundation and, i n 2001, he received the first State Supreme Science and Technology Awa rd of China. Fame came to Prof. Yuan as recognition of his genius and ha rd wo r k. Ac c o r d i ng to Prof. Yuan himself, scientific research , and i n particular, research i n th e applied sciences, must be based on solid g r oundwo r k, and this is 'knowledge'. Secondly, ther e must be a lot of hard wo r k , part of wh i ch may be undertaken i n harsh weather and w i t h extreme urgency, and this is 'sweat'. Thirdly, one mu st be good at searchin g for new i n f o rma t i on a nd i n analysing data, for this is h o w w i s d om and inspiration come into play . An d, for Prof. Yuan, k n ow l e d g e + sweat + inspiration + o p p o r t u n i ty make up the f o r mu l a for success. The French bacteriologist Louis Pasteur rightly observed that opportunity favours only thos e w h o have the w i l l to succeed, an d Prof. Yuan d i d spend year s i n the field screening tens of thousands of plants. His effort was, of course, rewarded b y the discovery of the male sterile plant. ' He h ad l oo k ed for it thousands of times, searching h i gh and low. A n d , all of a sudden, as he turned back, there it was i n the bright sunshine.' For the successful cultivation of h y b r id rice Prof. Yuan has traversed the country ma ny times, f r om no r th to sout h and f r om Yunna n to Hainan. Ancient legend has i t that the Emperor Yu' i n carrying out flood control wo r k s, h ad passed his hom e three times w i t h o ut stopping by . Prof. Yuan, on the other hand, had the record of not goin g home fo r Lunar N ew Year for seven years, being detained b y fieldwork . Du r i ng the course of his research he had experience d more than his fair share of frustratio n and hardship, b ut w i t h unbend i ng w i l l he persevered and we nt f r om strength to strength. He has fought v a l i an t ly for his cause, and his achievements certainly d i d not come to h i m easily. 46