Yuan Longping: Father of hybrid rice

If netizens, rather than a select group of experts, could choose Nobel Peace Prizes, a Chinese scientist might be a winner.

An Internet post last Tuesday calling for Chinese agricultural scientist Yuan Longping to be awarded next year's Nobel Peace Prize got 20,000 votes by this Friday. Yuan is known as the "father of hybrid rice" in China.

A post written by a netizen called "Tiannan Dibei" on bbs.rednet.cn called for Yuan's nomination. It cited Nobel Peace Laureate Mother Teresa in 1979 for her contribution to global charity, and Norman Borlaug in 1970 for his invention of a high-yield wheat useful for developing countries.

"The Nobel Peace Prize does not limit its winners to politicians and organizations devoted to the prevention of war," the post said. "It's also open to people and organizations who try to eliminate problems and narrow the wealth gap."

"Elimination of poverty and hunger is creating peace," it said. "With his extraordinary contribution to grain growth in the country and the world, Yuan is fully qualified for the prize."

The Beijing News reported that a member of the Nobel Committee said in a meeting with students of Tsinghua Unversity in March that China is likely to make a breakthroughs in the Nobel literature and peace prizes.

This year's Nobel Peace Prize went to Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank for their continuous efforts to grant small sum loans to the poor.

This Friday, more than 94 per cent of more than 8,500 people surveyed were in favour of Yuan getting the prize.

Yuan, a household name in China, is regarded as the most famous farmer in the country. He is noted for inventing a form of rice with a much higher yield than average crops.

With more than half of China's paddy fields growing Yuan's rice, his invention has fed millions of people in the world's most populous country.

His "super rice" has also been introduced to more than 20 other countries.

Even if he is in the running, prizes have never been on top of the 76-year-old's list of priorities.

"I consider it an honour and a recognition of the country's fast developing technology," was all Yuan said to China Daily when he was elected as a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences this April.

Yuan has already won a number of other honours, including a State Supreme Science and Technology Award in 2001, and the World Food Prize in 2004.

Peng Jimin, a colleague of Yuan at the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Centre in Hunan Province, said Yuan was definitely the best person in the country to be nominated for the peace prize.

"Food is always the most important thing to maintain stability," he said. "Just look at how many people his rice has fed."