Yuan Longping: Father of Hybrid Rice 袁隆平：杂交水稻之父

袁隆平是中国杂交水稻育种专家，被誉为"杂交水稻之父"。
Yuan Longping is an expert in hybrid rice breeding in China and is honored as "father of hybrid rice" in China.
据老一辈说，真正能吃饱饭，是在七十年代末，以前的稻子是高高的，风一吹就倒，换了矮水稻以后，粮食真是翻了出来。袁隆平的水稻"南优二号"，比以前的水稻增产20%，于1973年研究成功，1976年开始推广。八十年代，国际组织给他的奖项多得像米粒一样。中国有九亿农民，他一个人，相当于干了两亿农民的活。有人预估，他的种子共创造效益5600亿美元。
According to the older generation, it was not until the late 1970s that the Chinese people could have enough to eat. Before that, the paddies grew very high and would fall down when it blew. Later, people plant lower paddies and the output also increased. Nanyou 2, the rice variety bred by Yuan Longping, could yield 20 percent more than the ordinary variety. The variety was successfully produced in 1973 and promoted in 1976. In the 1980s, he got numerous awards from international organizations, as many as the rice he produced. China has about 900 million farmers and he himself has done the work of 200 million farmers. Someone estimated that his rice variety totally created USD560 billion of profit.
随着杂交水稻在世界各国试验试种，杂交水稻已引起世界的关注。袁隆平近年来，先后应邀到菲律宾、美国、日本、法国、英国、意大利、埃及、澳大利亚8个国家讲学、传授技术、参加学术会议或进行技术合作研究等国际性学术活动。杂交水稻推向世界，美国、日本、菲律宾、巴西、阿根廷等100多个国家纷纷引进杂交水稻。
With an increasing number of countries worldwide tested hybrid rice, the rice variety also aroused the world attention. In recent years, Yuan Longping went to eight countries at invitation such as the Philippines, the United States, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Egypt and Australia to give lectures, teach technologies, attend academic meetings and have researches on technical cooperation. Hybrid rice was promoted worldwide and more than 100 countries such as the United States, Japan, the Philippines, Brazil and Argentina introduce the variety to their respective countries.
自1981年袁隆平的杂交水稻成果获得建国以来第一个特等发明奖之后，从1985～1988年的短短4年内，又连续荣获了3个国际性科学大奖。国际友人称颂这位"当代神农氏"培育的杂交水稻是中国继指南针、火药、造纸、活字印刷之后，对人类做出的"第五大贡献"。国际水稻研究所所长、印度前农业部长斯瓦米纳森博士高度评价说："我们把袁隆平先生称为'杂交水稻之父'，因为他的成就不仅是中国的骄傲，也是世界的骄傲。"
After Yuan Longping won the first special invention award in 1981 after the founding of the People's Republic of China for his contribution of developing hybrid rice, during the four years from 1985 to 1988, he won three international awards of science in succession. International personages praised the hybrid rice, developed by the contemporary "god of grain," to be the "fifth largest contribution" of China for human beings after the compass, gunpowder, papermaking and movable-type printing. Dr. M S Swaminathan, Director General of International Rice Research Institute and former Minister of Agriculture of India spoke highly of Yuan Longping, "We called Mr. Yuan Longping 'father of hybrid rice,' because his achievement is the pride not only for China, but also for the whole world."
袁隆平，在充满坎坷的研究道路上奋力跋涉，把绿色的梦想书写在大地之上；在布满荆棘的实验丛林中前行，历经无数次的挫折和失败，为生命中弥足珍贵的杂交水稻事业无怨无悔，倾其一生；历经数十载的不懈探索和艰难实践，袁隆平终于成功了！他不仅解决了中国人的吃饭问题，而且给人类带来了福音。
Yuan Longping works hard on his way full of thorns and stones and writes his green dreams on the ground. On his way of research and experiment, he experienced numerous frustrations and failures. But he does not regret his choice of developing hybrid rice; he devotes himself to the work. After decades of hard work, Yuan Longping succeeded. He not only solved the problem of enabling Chinese people to have enough to eat, but also brought hope to the human race.