Daily Monitor
Saturday May 22 2021
Yuan Longping died in a hospital in Changsha after he had suffered from an unspecified illness. PHOTO/FILE/COURTESY
Summary
Yuan Longping died in a hospital in Changsha, capital of Hunan province, Xinhua said. It said he had suffered from an unspecified illness.
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An agronomist hailed as a Chinese national hero for helping develop hybrid rice and easing hunger for millions worldwide died on Saturday at the age of 90, state-run Xinhua news agency said.
Yuan Longping, known in China as the "father of hybrid rice", is credited with cultivating the world's first high-yield hybrid rice strain in 1973.