China Sets Up Yuan Longping Institute of Science and TechnologyAn institute of science and technology named after famous agronomist and father of Chinese hybrid rice Yuan Longping has been set up in Hunan Province, central China.This is the first time in China that an institute of higher learning has been named after a scientist. Beginning hybrid rice research in 1964, Yuan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, developed three strains of hybrid rice (male sterile, maintainer and restorer), and obtained the world's first high-yielding hybrid rice strains in cooperation with other scientists in 1973. He made a breakthrough in hybrid rice breeding and perfected production techniques in 1984. Yuan Longping was invited to be the honorary president of the institute, which will start recruiting students this year. |
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