Some people say that Yuan Longping will be the richest man in the world if he applies for a patent for hybrid rice. Is that true?

Abstract: some people say that Yuan Longping will be the richest man in the world if he applies for a patent for hybrid rice. Is that true?

I have seen similar reports before that if hybrid rice technology is patented, Yuan Longping will be the richest man in the world! However, Science Xingnong makes it clear here that even if Yuan Longping can apply for a patent on hybrid rice technology, he cannot become the richest man! Why? First, the type that can apply for patent is wild abortive cytoplasmic male sterility (WA CMS). Second, the patent is valid for 20 years. Third, the age achievements of hybrid rice inventions are transferred to the unit.

Wild abortive cytoplasmic male sterility (WA CMS) type

The theory of rice heterosis was put forward not by Yuan Longping but by Henry Beachell of the United States in 1926, and the miraculous rice IR8 developed by it (at IRRI, International Rice Research Institute of the Philippines) doubled the per unit yield of rice in the Philippines. Japanese scholars discovered the wild male sterile line in 1917, but although the relevant research has been carried out, it is still unable to achieve three-line matching. The rice WA CMS discovered by Li Bihu was in 1973, which is relatively later than the international research.

One of the prerequisites for large-scale production of hybrid rice is that there are male sterile lines and restorer lines, so if you can apply for a patent, you must be applying for a patent with WACMS. However, the male sterile type of rice is not the only one of WACMS, and the HLCMS of Zhu Ying Academician of Wuhan University is also a very good material, and there are bred varieties. In addition, BTCMS has been widely used, although slightly later than WA, but if WA applies for patent protection, then other types of infertility will develop rapidly.

Period of validity of patent

The international rule is that the patent is valid for 20 years, and the first hybrid rice is bred in 1975, even if it can apply for a patent in that year, but our country also uses WA CMS cytoplasm to select hybrids in the following 20 years, so it is only 20 years' patent fee. And the patent fee cannot be high, because hybrid rice is not as popular as hybrid corn. Although the yield of hybrid rice is very high, the quality of hybrid rice is not high. As can be seen in the picture above, the share of hybrid rice in 20 years of promotion is only 30%, and if royalties are charged, then this share is not available. That's for sure. In such a period of time, such a slow promotion, it is obviously unrealistic to expect to become the richest man.

Achievement transformation

The discovery of WA CMS and a series of follow-up studies are based on the national scientific research funds and the achievements made by Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, whether the patents or variety licenses are carried out on the basis of units and countries, and in that era in 1975, the achievement transformation still belongs to the country, and individuals can only get some awards. Therefore, it is fundamentally impossible for the so-called patent to belong to Yuan Longping. Even now, the achievements made in scientific research institutions still belong to the unit, but the main inventors can get higher rewards from it.

To sum up, it was impossible for Yuan Longping to apply for any relevant patents at the time when hybrid rice was discovered, and China's patent law has not yet been implemented (implemented in 1984). And even if implemented, Yuan Longping is still unlikely to become the richest man, because there is a corresponding type of hybrid rice to choose from on the market, which is not an WA CMS option of Yuan Longping's team. And even if all hybrid rice seeds come from Yuan Longping's team, it is still impossible to become the richest man. Some people calculate that they refer to 200 million mu of rice every year (100 million mu is impossible in practice), and one jin of seeds per mu. Variety authorization for 15 years, 30 jin of seeds, even if it is 20 yuan per jin of seeds, how much is this? compared with the wealth of Ma Yun and Wang Jianlin, it is obviously negligible.