China's "Father of Hybrid Rice", Yuan Longping, was awarded Wolf Prize in Agriculture in Jerusalem, on Sunday. Moshe Katsav, president of the State of Israel, presented the prize to him. 

Yuan, 74, director of the China National Hybrid Rice Research and Development Center, is "one of the scientific giants in the history of modern agricultural research and has made a dramatic impact on worldwide food production. Under his leadership, and after a decade of cooperative research efforts, among hundreds of rice scientists from numerous research institutes and universities, rice yields were generally enhanced by 20 percent, and China rice production, by 50 percent. To help increase world food supply, he has shared his knowledge, techniques, and breeding materials with scientists worldwide," according to the Wolf Prize Jury in this field.

The agriculture prize was shared by Yuan Longping and Steven Tanksley, 50, of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, for innovative development of hybrid rice and discovery of the genetic basis of heterosis in this important food staple. Since 1978, five or six prizes have been awarded annually to outstanding scientists and artists. To date, 224 laureates from 21 countries have been honored.

(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2004)