Yuan Longping, one of China's greatest heroes, is dead at 90. Here's how he saved millions of people during the country's deadly famine crisis in the 1960s.

<p><img src="https://static1.businessinsider.com/image/60abb50ef27b4c001944627a-816/yuan longping.jpeg" border="0" alt="Yuan Longping" data-mce-source="Guang Niu/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="Yuan Longping"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p><em>Hello! This story is from today's edition of Morning Brew, an awesome daily email publication read by 2.5 million next-generation leaders like you. Sign up <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reviews/out'u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fsubscribe%3Futm_medium%3Dpartnership%26utm_source%3Dinsider">here</a> to get it!</em></p><p>Yuan Longping, the Chinese agronomist credited with saving millions of people from dying of hunger,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-business-science-8681fe4264252c03db539b09ee3e4430'utm_source=morning_brew" target="_blank" rel="noopener">died at 90</a>&nbsp;on Saturday.</p><p>In 1973, Longping developed the world's first high-yield hybrid rice strain, which produced 20% more rice per acre than nonhybrid varieties. That means his innovations helped feed an extra 70 million people per year.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>The backstory:&nbsp;</strong>China suffered a disastrous famine in the early 1960s as a result of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward plan to collectivize agriculture. Yuan said his experiences of seeing people starving to death led him to research rice, which serves as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/23/obituaries/yuan-longping-dead.html'utm_source=morning_brew" target="_blank" rel="noopener">main grain</a>&nbsp;for half the world's population.&nbsp;</p><p>Yuan's breakthroughs turned him into a national hero in China and within the international agriculture community. He crisscrossed the globe introducing his rice hybrids to farmers in lower-income nations.</p><p><strong>Looking ahead...</strong>food security remains top of mind for Chinese officials. Last year, President Xi Jinping called on citizens to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-08/11/c_139282457.htm'utm_source=morning_brew" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stop wasting food</a>&nbsp;and to be more conscientious about food consumption.&nbsp;</p><p><em>This story is from today's edition of Morning Brew, a daily email publication. Sign up <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reviews/out'u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.morningbrew.com%2Fdaily%2Fsubscribe%3Futm_medium%3Dpartnership%26utm_source%3Dinsider">here</a> to get it!</em></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/yuan-longping-credited-with-saving-millions-from-hunger-has-died-2021-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-everyone-hates-moist-2018-5">Why 'moist' is one of the most hated words in the English language</a></p>
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