Focus on Arts and Ecology

 The big environmental stories in the Chinese media (21-27 May)

Yuan Longping, the man regarded by many in China as the “father of hybrid rice”, passed away on 22 May at the age of 91.

The news triggered a flood of mourning on social media. His perceived contribution to “feeding China” has prompted some to compare him with Shen Nong, god of agriculture.

State news agency Xinhua published an opinion piece calling for the national flag to be lowed to half-mast across the country in tribute, though this hasn’t happened.

Conversely, police detained multiple individuals for online “attacks” and “insults” directed at Yuan. At least 64 Weibo accounts were suspended on the same grounds.
 
No scientist has enjoyed such status in China in recent memory. Yuan’s halo is primarily due to pioneering scientific writings on “male sterility in rice” published in 1966. These prepared the Chinese agronomist community for further research and development of high-yield hybrid rice. 
 
In recent years, however, voices questioning his fitness for the “father of hybrid rice” title have surfaced on Chinese media outlets and social media. In 2018, China Newsweek published a report on the history of hybrid rice. It found the process had been a collectivist endeavour, with multiple agronomists contributing indispensable parts of the technology. But the system of honouring scientists at that time in China celebrated individual heroes.
 
Another reservation people have with Yuan concerns the impacts of hybrid breeding itself. In 2011, the famous advocate for peasant rights Li Changping wrote an open letter to Yuan pleading with him to “leave peasants some real seeds”. He argued conventional, non-hybrid seeds, including those of rice, are cheaper, more eco-friendly, potentially higher yield, and can be saved for replanting by peasants themselves. The last fact gives the peasants economic autonomy from seed companies, and more resilience against natural disasters. 
 
The introduction of hybrid rice and other food crops under the dual forces of state and market has been a major driver of genetic diversity loss in crops over the past 50 years. With China increasingly committed to developing modern breeding technologies, conservation of landraces – locally cultivated plant and animal breeds – remains a marginalised concern. Last December, the Chinese NGO Farmers' Seed Network published a report calling on public institutions to support rural communities in their conservation of landraces by planting and saving seeds.

(Sources: China Dialogue)