t Center and he became a member or leader of several national committees, conferences and foundations that support agriculture, science and technology in China.
Yuan built a legacy of combating food shortages and hunger. He and his research associates traveled to India, Vietnam, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the United States to provide advice and consultation to rice research personnel. Yuan’s research institute has trained over 3,000 scientists from more than 50 countries. Farmers around the world have benefitted from his techniques as hybrid rice spread throughout Asia, Africa and the Americas.
For his breakthrough achievement in developing the genetic materials and technologies essential for breeding high-yielding hybrid rice varieties, The World Food Prize was awarded to Yuan Longping and Monty Jones, also a rice researcher, in 2004, which was declared the United Nations International Year of Rice.
In addition to the 2004 World Food Prize, Yuan’s honors and awards include China’s State Supreme Science and Technology Award, the 2001 Magsaysay Award, the UN FAO Medal of Honor for Food Security, and the 2004 Wolf Prize in Agriculture. Additionally, in 2007, he was named a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, which is one of the highest honors in American science and engineering. Yuan became the first non-American NAS member from the Chinese agricultural science circle.
Yuan’s pioneering research helped transform China from food deficiency to food security within three decades. His accomplishments and clear vision helped create a more abundant food supply and more stable world. Yuan’s distinguished life’s work has caused many to call him the “Father of Hybrid Rice,” while his continued research has offered even more promise for world food security and adequate nutrition for the world’s poor.