Former pupil of "father of hybrid rice" leads charge in planting seeds of success

　　Li Li works at an experimental rice plot in Changsha, Hunan province. CHINA DAILY

　　On a desk in Li Li"s office, two meticulously preserved rice ears stand as symbols of a mission that spans generations.

　　One specimen is labeled "Xizi 3" — China"s first nationally approved low-cadmium rice variety. The other is a third-generation hybrid, representing the unfinished mission of the late Yuan Longping, the legendary "father of hybrid rice".