BEIJING－Plant pathologist Zhu Youyong was bestowed with the title of "role model of the times", in recognition of his contribution to science and poverty reduction.

The academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering－and Yunnan Agricultural University's honorary president－began his research on crop genetic diversity to tackle their vulnerability to disease in 1986. Zhu confirmed that intraspecific crop diversification provides an ecologically effective approach to disease control, and his solutions to crop disease control have been widely applied both at home and abroad since 2000.

Zhu's dedication has earned him many honors, including the national sci-tech progress award and the title of "national model teacher".

Zhu voluntarily chose to work in the poverty-stricken ethnic Lahu autonomous county of Lancang in Yunnan province in 2015 when he was 60, where 41 percent of residents were living in poverty.

He led a team to set up a workstation in Lahu's Yunshan village and stayed there for the past five years.

To help the farmers, he advocated planting potatoes in winter and carried out demonstration planting with village cadres when the farmers were initially reluctant to adopt his methods.

Their efforts paid off, as they have harvested potatoes weighing as much as 2.5 kilograms.

Zhu also led the farmers in developing a local specialty industry and cultivated an affordable kind of ginseng, "organic panax notoginseng", that pharmaceutical companies like to purchase.

Moreover, his special training program helped more than 1,000 people become pioneers in raising income with new technologies.

"It was my childhood dream to help farmers lead a better life," said Zhu, who was born in a rural family in Yunnan in 1955.

The dream drove him in his tireless study and research. It made him more than happy to see his research results applied in the field.

"It's much better than receiving awards or getting papers published," said Zhu, who has long been called "the farmer academician" by the locals.