Yuan Longping studies rice in a field. CFP

As the old Chinese saying goes, “Humanity’s most fundamental relationship is with what we eat.”

中国古语有云：“民以食为天。”

Although food has played an important part in Chinese culture for years, hunger had been a huge problem in the country until the 1970s.

尽管美食向来都是中国文化的重要组成部分，但在上世纪70年代以前，饥荒曾一直是我国的一大问题。

However, the Chinese scientist Yuan Longping helped to fix this problem.

而中国科学家袁隆平则致力于解决这一问题。

On Sept 8, Yuan, together with two other scientists, won China’s 2018 Future Science Prize, for his continuous research on rice. Even on his 88th birthday on Sept 7, he took part in the International Development Forum¹ of Rice Production in Hunan province. Although he was recovering from an illness at the time, he was happy to talk to reporters about his latest work with seawater rice.

9月8日，袁隆平与另外两名科学家获得我国2018未来科学大奖，以表彰其对水稻从未止步的研究。而在9月7日袁隆平88岁的生日当天，他还参加了在湖南省举行的国际稻作发展论坛。尽管当时他大病初愈，但他很乐于与记者们谈论自己关于“海水稻”的最新成果。

Yuan has been conducting research on rice since he was at college. In 1964, he discovered a natural hybrid² rice plant. Since then, he has focused on developing high-yield, hybrid rice varieties. These varieties now account for about two thirds of China’s rice crop, according to China News. So, it’s no wonder that he’s known as the “Father of Hybrid Rice”.

袁隆平在大学时代便展开了水稻研究。1964年，他找到了一株“天然雄性不育株”。从那时起，他便专注于培育高产的杂交水稻品种。据中国新闻网报道，这些品种如今占我国水稻作物的2/3。所以，袁隆平被称为“杂交水稻之父”也就不足为奇了。

And thanks to China’s Belt and Road initiative, Yuan’s hybrid rice is helping³ to solve food problems around the world. Indeed, according to Xinhua News Agency, hybrid rice plants in Kenya produce four to five times more rice than the country’s regular rice plants.

得益于我国“一带一路”倡议，袁隆平的杂交水稻能帮助全球解决粮食问题。的确，据新华社报道，在肯尼亚种植的杂交水稻优良品种平均产量，是当地常规品种的4至5倍。

With a rising reputation around the world, Yuan delivered a speech in English at the 9th Shandong High-Level Talents Forum in Qingdao last year.

去年，国际名望不断提高的袁隆平在青岛举行的第九届山东高层次人才论坛上做了一次英文演讲。

His speech made him an internet sensation. Beginning with “I speak broken English”, his 20-minute speech turned out to be a huge success, with barely any pauses or mistakes.

他的演讲在网上引发轰动。开场时袁隆平表示“我的英语不好”，但这场20分钟的演讲却取得了巨大成功，几乎没有停顿或者错误。

The humble⁴ Yuan was simply being modest during his speech. According to a 1999 article by CNN, the scientist speaks both English and Russian fluently. “I never need an interpreter when I go overseas,” he told the US news network.

袁隆平为人谦逊，演讲中只是自谦而已。据CNN1999年的一篇文章报道，这位科学家能说一口流利的英语和俄语。“我出国时从来不需要翻译，”他在接受这家美国新闻媒体网站采访时表示。

But in spite of his great knowledge, Yuan understands that even the wisest of people should still be open to learning new things. “The farmers of our country possess rich experience in planting rice,” he told Xinhua. “We should learn from them.”

尽管袁隆平学识渊博，但他深知，就算是最聪明的人也应该对学习新事物抱有一种开放的心态。“我国农民的种稻经验相当丰富，”他在接受新华社采访时表示。“我们应当向他们学习。”