A social media influencer in the agricultural sector, boasting over two million followers across platforms under the banner of "protecting traditional seeds," has come under fire for publicly disparaging foundational crop breeding technologies. In recent videos, the influencer labeled the "three-line hybrid system" as "aberrant hybridization" and "pathological hybridization," while referring to "male sterility" with the offensive and misleading analogy that consuming such crops could lead to infertility "like a mule."

These attacks fundamentally target the very technologies that underpin China's food security. The individual targeted, the three-line hybrid system, was pioneered by the late academician Yuan Longping. Modern breeding techniques like this have formed the bedrock of the nation's grain security for decades.

The influencer stated, "I don't oppose hybridization itself. I oppose those aberrant forms. Hybridizing a pure paternal line with a maternal line is fine. But now there's a pathological hybridization, perhaps called the three-line system, involving a technique called male sterility, which results in the hybrid being infertile."

This commentary demonstrates a profound lack of understanding of hybrid technology. The influencer misinterpreted the term "male sterility," incorrectly comparing it to the cross between a donkey and a horse producing a sterile mule.

Such remarks reveal complete ignorance of the three-line and two-line hybrid systems, male sterile plants, and genetic engineering. By the influencer's flawed logic, since commercial bananas are seedless, eating them would act as contraception. Conversely, the rapid proliferation of certain invasive fish species would then suggest that consuming them guarantees abundant offspring.

Agricultural influencers must possess agricultural knowledge. With a significant following, this individual's statements recklessly trample on the foundational principles of national food security. The very technology labeled as "pathological hybridization" is, in fact, the cornerstone of China's food security built over generations, pioneered by Academician Yuan Longping.

The Science Behind the Innovation

To understand the three-line system, one must first grasp male sterility. It does not refer to hybrid infertility, as falsely claimed. Instead, it describes a condition where a plant's stamen develops abnormally and cannot produce pollen to fertilize the pistil for self-pollination. This male sterility is essential, as it allows the plant to accept foreign pollen, forming the basis for hybridization.

As early as 1966, Academician Yuan Longping outlined the preliminary concept for rice hybridization in a published paper.

The process involves identifying a male sterile plant (the "female" or A line). A special rice variety, known as the maintainer line (B line), is then crossed with it to produce offspring that retain the male sterile trait. Finally, another variety, the restorer line (R line), is crossed with the sterile line to restore fertility in the hybrid offspring. This first-generation (F1) hybrid seed exhibits superior traits, known as heterosis or hybrid vigor, and is what farmers plant.

Building on key discoveries—a wild male sterile rice plant ("Wild Abortive") found in Hainan in 1970 by research assistant Li Bihu and others, and a strong restorer line ("International 24") identified in Southeast Asian varieties by Zhang Xiancheng of Guangxi Agricultural College in 1973—Yuan Longping successfully completed the three-line system integration experiment in 1973, achieving a yield of 505 kilograms per mu. Based on this, he developed the first commercially viable variety, "Nanyou 2," in 1974, which was formally approved and promoted by 1979. This breakthrough made China the first country in the world to successfully utilize heterosis in rice on a large scale.

Beyond the Three-Line System

It's worth noting that hybrid breeding includes not only the three-line and two-line methods but also a one-line method. The one-line principle utilizes apomixis, where an egg cell develops into a seed without fertilization or meiosis, producing seeds genetically identical to the maternal plant. This avoids issues of trait segregation in subsequent generations, meaning hybrid rice seeds could, in theory, be saved and replanted.

Without these advanced breeding technologies—wrongly maligned as "aberrant"—agricultural production could not meet demand, national food security would be compromised, and the food abundance taken for granted by millions of families today would not exist.

In a related attempt to defend agricultural technology, a young farmer born in the 1990s once drank water-soluble fertilizer and the plant growth regulator forchlorfenuron on camera. Dismissing this, the influencer questioned, "Drinking it once proves nothing. If it's so good, why don't the Japanese use it? Forchlorfenuron was invented in Japan, but they hardly use it; you're the ones using it all. I wonder why?" (Note: Japan currently permits the use of forchlorfenuron).

Some people, with full bellies, understand propriety; others, having eaten their fill, simply have nothing better to do. The criticism is not directed at a lack of knowledge itself, but at the refusal to learn and the audacity to spread misinformation under the guise of "protecting traditional varieties," while showing disrespect for the painstaking achievements of agricultural scientists like Yuan Longping.

Regarding the misinformation in the influencer's videos, a formal report has been submitted to the national cyberspace administration. Agriculture is the foundation of the nation, a matter of paramount importance. In areas vital to the national economy and people's livelihood, there is no tolerance for such backward and harmful rhetoric to spread unchecked.