Chinese agricultural scientist Yuan Longping has pledged to raise hybrid rice's yield per mu (0.0667 hectares) by 1,000 kilograms within ten years. Yuan, who developed the first Chinese hybrid rice varieties in 1974, made the pledge during a meeting of the 21st Century Forum that concluded on Wednesday in Beijing. Celebrating his 80th birthday on Tuesday, Yuan said he planned to realize the objective before he turned 90 years old. 'There's still much potential to raise the yield of rice,' said Yuan. 'A lot of measures, such as better irrigation, soil and varieties, could help increase the yield.' 'Currently, the most cost-effective and efficient way is still the hybrid rice that was developed in China,' Yuan said. As the world's population is growing and about 10 million hectares of farmland are reduced each year, the human race could face food shortages, according to the scientist. If half of the paddy fields were planted with hybrid rice varieties around the world, the global rice yield may be increased by 150 million tonnes which could feed another 400 million people every year, Yuan said. Yuan's hybrid rice has been introduced to many other developing countries and has become a successful crop in Thailand, Vietnam where it is exported. 