[Epoch Times June 5, 2021]Yuan Longping, the “father of hybrid rice” in mainland China, passed away on May 22. The party media gathered reports and praised it. However, Yuan Longping’s honor and the role of his hybrid rice in China’s food security have caused widespread public doubts. What is anomalous is that these remarks, which do not seem to pose a direct “threat” to the Chinese Communist regime, have been severely suppressed by the authorities. The outside world has noticed that the CCP has worked so hard to protect the dead, indicating that it is becoming less confident.
The death of Yuan Longping was highly praised by the Chinese Communist Party
On March 10, 2021, Yuan Longping, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, who has the title of “Father of Hybrid Rice”, fell at the Sanya Hybrid Rice Research Base. On April 7, he was transferred to Changsha, Hunan for treatment. At 13:07 on May 22, Yuan died in Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha due to multiple organ failure, at the age of 90.
During his lifetime, Yuan Longping received many Chinese government and international honorary awards, such as:
In 1981, the first national special invention award of the Communist Party of China.
In 1999, the asteroid 8117 (1996SD1) was named “Yuan Longping Star”.
In 2001, he won the highest science and technology award of the Communist Party of China.
In 2006, he was elected as a foreign member of the American Academy of Sciences.
Shenzhen and Fuzhou also have roads named after him-Longping Road.
The international channel of the party media People’s Daily Online also called “Yuan Longping in the Eyes of Foreign Media: Made Outstanding Contributions to Global Food Security”, and used foreign media to praise and amplify Yuan’s achievements. The article stated: Foreign media and netizens have praised Yuan Longping’s “outstanding contribution” to food security in mainland China and the world, and “successfully feeding nearly one-fifth of the world‘s population.”
The party media selected the praises of Yuan from the media on all continents, and the smuggling was obvious: The Associated Press “Chinese scientist Yuan Longping passed away, his rice research helped feed the global population” stated that Yuan Longping’s research not only helped China move from food shortage to food abundance Supply, he and his team have also cooperated with dozens of countries to help them solve food security and malnutrition problems.
The Spanish “Le Monde” published an article “The death of “Father of Hybrid Rice” Yuan Longping” stating that Yuan Longping “successfully fed nearly one-fifth of the world‘s population”. As the first person to successfully develop hybrid rice, Yuan is regarded as an “Asian hero.”
South Korean media such as Yonhap News Agency and South Korea’s “Joongang Daily” quoted reports from the CCP media.
Brazil’s “Rice Planet” magazine stated that for many Chinese, Yuan Longping “solved the problem of insufficient food” and was respected and loved by the people in China. In recognition of Yuan Longping, an asteroid was named after him, namely “Yuan Longping Star”.
The Arab website “almuheet” launched the “Who is the “Father of Hybrid Rice” in China”. It mentioned that the cultivation and promotion of Chinese hybrid rice in Africa has promoted the food security of African countries, and promoted the agriculture and development of many African developing countries. economic development.
According to the New York Times, Yuan Longping’s research results have greatly increased the rice harvest and saved countless lives. He is a “national hero” of China.
The People’s Daily Online also organized reports from Bahrain’s “The Motherland”, Egypt’s “Seventh Day”, Yemen’s Saba News Agency, and Saudi news websites. The mourning words of the United Nations and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on their social platforms refer to Yuan’s “outstanding contribution” to promoting food security, eradicating poverty, and benefiting people’s livelihood.
In addition to the official and media, the party media also collected tribute to Yuan Longping from netizens from all over the world, many of which were silly and useless words, such as the quote from Chilean netizens, “Because of his contribution, we can only now have a plate of’Chile fried rice’. With a hug.”
The Causes and Consequences of Yuan Longping’s Winning the Title of “Father of Hybrid Rice”
What allowed the CCP to take advantage of it, but embarrassingly, was that Yuan Longping witnessed the great famine caused by the “Great Leap Forward”, which caused hunger everywhere, and tens of millions of people lost their lives. He determined to study hybrid rice with the intention of increasing grain yield. The CCP had no choice but to support his research, but refused to acknowledge this causal relationship.
Yuan Longping is a native of De’an, Jiangxi. After graduating from Southwest Agricultural College in 1953, he was assigned to work at Hunan Anjiang Agricultural School. In 1959, he witnessed the tragic situation of the three-year famine in Hunan. He believed that it was related to the lack of food, so he began to study hybrid rice.
In July 1960, he accidentally discovered a rice plant with special traits in the experimental field of the agricultural school, and it was convenient to use the rice plant for trial planting. Later, he discovered that its progeny had different properties. He deduced that this is a natural hybrid rice, and he artificially removed the male flowers of the stamens and gave them pollen from another variety in an attempt to produce hybrid varieties.
On July 5, 1964, he found a “natural male sterile plant” in the experimental field. After artificial pollination, he produced hundreds of seeds of the first generation male sterile plant. In July 1965, he inspected 6 sterile plants in more than 14,000 rice ears one by one. In the following two years of planting, he obtained 4 plants that had successfully reproduced for 1 to 2 generations.
Yuan Longping’s research has completely overturned the traditional classic theory of “asexual hybridization” by Russian horticulturalist Michurin, who is engaged in the research of fine seed selection and breeding, and Ukrainian biologist and agronomist Lysenko. Therefore, he believes that the “three-line method” of breeding hybrid rice by cultivating male sterile lines, male sterile maintainers and male sterile restorer lines can greatly increase rice yield.
In February 1966, the last issue of the Chinese Academy of Sciences “Science Bulletin” before the Cultural Revolution was closed, and Yuan Longping’s first paper was published, which was valued by the National Science and Technology Commission of the Communist Party of China, and therefore instructed Anjiang Agricultural School to protect and support Yuan Longping’s research during the Cultural Revolution. Yuan’s rice research has made breakthroughs in the 1970s and 2000s. He has also won the National Medal, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Foreign Academician of the American Academy of Sciences, and many United Nations awards.
However, the field of hybrid rice researched by Yuan Longping still has the achievements of many experts. Many researchers are well-known in the industry, and their achievements are not lost to Yuan Longping.
Recently, Huang Zhangjin, a veteran mainland media person, published in August 2018, “How did Yuan Longping’s mythical father of hybrid rice rise?” “The article was turned out by the public (the article was deleted shortly after it was published that year), detailing the outstanding contributions of many rice experts.
Huang Wen said that the hybrid rice breeding technology has made Yuan Longping the “father of hybrid rice” a superstar known to all ages. It is because of the special reasons of various times that it has been portrayed as an unprecedented political spectacle.
He listed some other scientists who made significant contributions: In 1982, Yuan Longping gradually began to be called the “father of hybrid rice”, one of the pioneers of indica hybrid rice research in China, not the only one, but no one dared to compete with Yuan Longping. Titles, Xie Hua’an and Yan Long’an, who have made great contributions to the three-line hybrid rice, have become the “mother of hybrid rice.”
Huang Wen said that Shi Mingsong contributed the most to the two-line hybrid rice (sterile line and restorer line), but he died unexpectedly and failed to enjoy the honor he deserved. So he was revered as “Afather”.
Secondly, he independently bred the Gang and D series of sterile hybrid rice. Zhou Kaida, who is also an academician of the Academy of Engineering with Yuan Longping, can also compete with Yuan Longping in his generation and status. With the full support of the Sichuan Provincial Government, Zhou Kaida has almost developed rice seeds. Occupying the southwest region exclusively, it can be called the “father of southwest hybrid rice.”
Huang Wen said that there were also three fathers in the Northeast. Xu Yirong, who had worked hard for the black soil japonica rice all his life, was called the “father”. He just called the “father of the cold rice” or “the father of the Great Northern Wilderness rice”.
After the three lines and two lines of the rice breeding circle, the concept of super rice came into being. Therefore, Yang Shouren, who first proposed this concept, is also known as the “father of Chinese super rice.” But recently, some people called Academician Chen Wenfu the “father of super rice.” However, Yang Shouren is more rigorous, because the concept of super rice was first proposed by the Japanese.
Looking back, before Yuan Longping, there was the first short pole revolution. In July 1941, Gan Linan, an overseas Chinese in Rong County, Guangxi, brought back rice seeds from Malaysia. According to their characteristics, the locals called them “dwarf zhan”. In the summer of 1956, Hong Chunli, a native of Chaoyang, Guangdong, discovered a sample of natural mutant dwarf rice, and cooperated with Hong Chunying to cultivate the “Dwarf Nantes”. These two rice varieties later provided the most important genetic resources for dwarf rice varieties developed by breeding experts such as Huang Yaoxiang. In this way, Huang Yaoxiang should be posthumously named the “father of short-stalked rice,” Hong Chunying and Hong Chunli should not be missed, or they can add the prefix “Guangdong” or “Chaozhou” before their “father”.
Huang Wen believes that when the industry questioned Yuan Longping’s qualifications as the “father of hybrid rice”, it most liked to compare it with the American Henry Beachell. Henry is a researcher at the Philippine International Rice Research Institute sponsored by Rockefeller and Ford. In 1966, he bred the miracle rice IR8, and the rice yield doubled in 10 years. For this reason, Henry won the World Food Award in 1996. Huang Wen said that he is the “father of hybrid rice” recognized internationally. But when I searched on the English website, I couldn’t find the title of “Father”.
The food safety effect of hybrid rice is magnified
In addition to the loosening of CCP policies after the Cultural Revolution, farmers’ enthusiasm for farming increased, and the food crisis eased, researchers also found that China’s increase in grain yields, breeding technology and fertilizer application are the main contributions, especially chemical fertilizers. For half a century, just looking at the huge amount of chemical fertilizers will make people come to the conclusion that China’s grain production is increased by the pile of chemical fertilizers.
It is undeniable that although hybrid rice is not tasty, it is relatively high-yielding, but it is no problem. However, as the planting area of corn, sweet potatoes, and beans has increased, they have become a supplement to staple foods, accounting for about one-third of the output, and it is inevitable that there will be a trend in rice planting: 1. The planting area of northern japonica rice continues to grow. Increase; 2. The sown area of hybrid rice has been declining slowly; 3. The growth of conventional rice seeds has been slow. Of the rice that accounts for about one-third of the total staple food, the three rice varieties currently account for about one-third of the total rice output. Therefore, it can be concluded that the contribution of hybrid rice is seriously overestimated.
It can be said that the yield of hybrid rice is generally 20% higher than that of conventional rice, and the official propaganda that it can feed 70 million more people is misleading. Moreover, agronomists have found that under the same conditions with less fertilization, the yield of conventional rice is about higher than that of hybrid rice; while more fertilizer is used, the yield of hybrid rice is higher.
Civilians questioned the official suppression
Now the outside world is very puzzled by the official high-profile creation of gods, Yuan Longping’s propaganda, and backhand suppression of civil suspicions. I think this is another portrayal of high lack of self-confidence and lack of freedom of speech.
On May 22, Yuan passed away. On the 24th, the Weibo administrator issued an announcement stating: “Weibo found that some accounts took this opportunity to post harmful content that insulted and attacked Yuan Lao, causing bad influence.” For this reason, 64 accounts were permanently closed. .
Fujian independent media person Liu Quan told Free Asia that the deeds of many heroes and martyrs are fabricated in order to highlight the CCP’s own image of greatness and integrity.
Netizens have spoken, “Mr. Yuan’s achievements must have been made, but there must be a lot of exaggeration. Variety improvement can be said to have been done by people from ancient times to modern people, and there are few other people who have been promoted in this way. .”
“His achievements have been infinitely exaggerated and become the CCP’s political propaganda machine. The hybrid rice he studied is not popular in the market. Anyway, I have hardly seen his hybrid rice in supermarkets and shopping malls in China. China is the most popular. The most welcome rice is northeastern rice. Now many people have been brought into play by the party media, and few people have used their brains to think about whether the rice he eats is hybrid rice.”
“The death of Yuan Longping made the Chinese understand that the Chinese have no right to know.”
“His contribution is not as great as his reputation. The increase in grain production in Qiangguo is mainly due to fertilizers and pesticides. From the perspective of market economy, the extremely unpalatable hybrid rice is a failure product. The high yield of hybrid rice is also because it is unpalatable and low in nutrition. As a result, the insects do not eat, so the yield is high.”
“The contribution of Americans to China’s food is far above Yuan Longping.”
“As a rice expert, he definitely contributes to society. As for how it is packaged by the Communist Party as a bad thing for the Communist Party.”
“It can be seen from some of Yuan Longping’s deeds that among people with this status, this person should still have a very good character. But this status is always created by the God-making movement. Of course, there is no need to dislike Yuan Longping personally. Emotions, the use of his system is offensive.”
“What kind of goods will the king bring today? Use Yuan Longping to bring himself!”
Another netizen said, “In the CCP, if it is not for the Zhao family, as a common people, there are only two destinies waiting for you. One is to become a leek, and the other is to become a sharpening stone for the sickle. Unfortunately, Yuan Longping has become that efficient and effective Gorgeous whetstone.”
The Chinese dissident Monsoon said in an interview with Radio Free Asia on May 24, “The vast majority of commentators are rational people and will not be directed at Yuan Longping himself. To be fair, Yuan Longping, as a scientist, is unwilling to see. The official gods made him mythological, thinking that without him, the Chinese would be hungry. But this is not the case. Now we are still importing large quantities of food from Europe and the United States.”
In fact, the Yuan Longping turmoil will pass sooner or later, but the food security problem in mainland China will not disappear because of the CCP’s creation of gods and suppression of the people. The CCP will still buy food in huge amounts of foreign exchange to maintain the security of its rule. @
Editor in charge: Sun Yun#
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