China on Monday morning held a memorial service in Changsha, central China's Hunan province, to bid farewell to Yuan Longping, known as the "father of hybrid rice," who passed away on Saturday.

A flower shop owner in Changsha provided chrysanthemums for free. Some cab drivers transferred people arriving from other places by train to the mortuary at no charge. Some who could not come had flowers delivered to the mortuary.

Over 200 messages of condolence spread solemnly across the walls of the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, as people bid farewell to the nation's "food hero" Yuan Longping, who worked at the center and passed away Saturday at the age of 91. 

▲ People pay tribute to agricultural pioneer Yuan Longping on Sunday at his former workplace, the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center, in Changsha, Hunan province. Photo by Yang Huafeng/China News Service.

"Academician Yuan Longping committed his life to serving the country through science, technology, and innovation. His sublime character and noble sentiment vividly illustrates the spirit of scientists in the new era. The passing of Yuan Longping is a great loss to the scientific community in China and the world at large."

"The greatest hero serves the country. Even in the last moments of life, he devoted it to research. Still remember last October when we visited Yuan Longping in Changsha. He wrote 'Fushun, the home of ratooning rice', in calligraphy."

"Even at the advanced age of 88, Yuan still managed to set up an academician workstation in Inner Mongolia's Xing'an League. He personally led the research and development of japonica rice and saline-alkaline resistant rice in the cold regions of northern China. He explored the technical mode of increasing the yield of rice by 100 kg/mu in the Xing'an League, and brought benefits to 1.65 million people of all ethnic groups in the grasslands."

"In 2019, at the age of 90, he served as the honorary chairman of the Founders' Conference of Xi'an Rural Development Charity Foundation. Together with many other public figures, he established the Rural Development Institute of Yan'an University to promote the overall revitalization of rural areas."

"In Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Africa, hybrid rice is taking root and bearing heavy spikes of rice. In the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and other places, hybrid rice has been popularized and introduced to dozens of countries and regions, with an overseas planting area of 7 million hectares."