Yuan Longping, known as the "father of hybrid rice," has outlined a goal of raising the crop's yield to 15 tons a hectare in 10 years when celebrating his 80th birthday on September 7.

As the world's population is growing and about 10 million hectares of farmland are reduced each year, the human race could face food shortages, said Yuan. He said hybrid rice developed in China is still the most cost-effective and efficient way to raise the yield of rice.

Hybrid rice is produced by crossbreeding different kinds of rice. Yuan developed the first Chinese hybrid rice varieties in 1974. The second-generation super hybrid, which was released commercially in 2006, yields 9 tons of rice a hectare on average.

Yuan's hybrid rice has been exported to many other developing countries and has become a successful crop in Thailand and Viet Nam.

If half of the paddy fields around the world were planted with hybrid rice varieties, Yuan said, global rice yield could be increased by 150 million tons—and that could feed another 400 million people every year.

Yuan's achievements have won him many honors, including the State Science and Technology Award of China in 2000, and the Wolf Prize in agriculture and the World Food Prize in 2004.