A scientist in China had a dream when he was a child. In the dream, he grew a new type of rice that was as big as a peanut. The plant allowed farmers to rest in its shade. That child was Yuan Longping. Yuan grew up and became the “Father of Hybrid Rice”.
In the 1960s, a few years after he finished his studies in agriculture at university, he came up with an idea for hybrid rice. Since then, he has spent much of his time researching and developing new varieties.
In 1973，together with other scientists, he succeeded in developing hybrid rice. The introduction of this new product made China a leader in rice production. For this, he became known as the“Father of Hybrid Rice”. In 1980, the technology for hybrid rice was introduced to the United States and, later, to many other countries around the world.
Because of Dr. Yuan's hard work，China now produces enough rice every year to feed its people. Now Dr. Yuan is working on developing super hybrid rice. In his spare time, Dr. Yuan loves playing the violin and listening to music. Every night, he reads for half an hour before he goes to sleep. He likes swimming, too.
Dr. Yuan goes to the field twice a day.
How nice it would be to have a rice tree!