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Message from DG Masa

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The year 2006 is coming to a close and I’d like to share with you my assessment of this busy year and thank the CIMMYT family for its invaluable contribution to making this a productive and rewarding period for CIMMYT.

CIMMYT has made major progress in science leadership, delivery, effective partnership, organizational effectiveness and coherence, financial health and external perception and recognition. Let me give some examples that illustrate why I believe that 2006 has been a successful year for CIMMYT as a science-based organization with a humanitarian mission.

We started with Science Week, a major institutional event. At the end of the week I wrote: “I believe that Science Week was a major success. First of all, the Business Plan inauguration was received with enthusiasm by all staff present and the Board members who attended. We now have a Board-approved business plan and I feel that staff are anxious to join forces to deliver the flagship products highlighted in the plan. Science Week has been a major turning point for CIMMYT. I think that we now have a clear direction, and exciting and challenging tasks ahead of us. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to CIMMYT Board members (Lene, Julio, Bob and Pedro) for their active participation in the events and for providing their great wisdom about our science both its quality and its direction. I also thank those who were involved in logistic support for the successful events.”

CIMMYT organized or led a series of international meetings, showing the strength and relevance of our science. For example:

  • Wheat yield potential workshop (Obregon, March)
  • Fusarium head blight (HQ, March)
  • Global crop diversity strategy meetings on maize and wheat (HQ, May, June)
  • International Plant Breeding symposium (Mexico City, August)
  • Global Rust Initiative technical workshop (Alexandria, Egypt, October)
  • Bio-ethanol international technical workshop (New Delhi, November)

While organizing such events takes great effort, they are very important. Through them CIMMYT shows its proactiveness and relevance to global issues. They are powerful sources of CIMMYT’s influence on the global agricultural research agenda and partnership.

We also made major progress on improving CIMMYT’s organizational effectiveness. A new financial management system, Axapta, has been introduced. The implementation involved not only finance section staff but also program administrative staff in HQ and regional offices. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their tremendous energy and efforts in successfully managing the migration and implementation.

CIMMYT will move to strict, Project-based management in 2007. This will ensure priority-based (flagship products) resource allocation, output-oriented activities with clear accountability and monitoring system. This will also assist us to properly cost and price project activities and provide incentives for resource mobilization.

We continue to dramatically improve our operational effectiveness. For example, our cafeteria operations (El Batan) used to lose money (around USD 200,000/year). Through a change of management and improved effectiveness, it now breaks even, saving us that USD 200,000. We will continue to strive for operational effectiveness in all operations, so that more resources will be available for our resultoriented activities.

Effective partnership is a core component for the delivery of flagship products. I am sure we are all aware of its importance and work hard to create partnerships at many levels. I have seen major progress on the development of our alliances with two key sister centers (IRRI and ICARDA) this year. We made also special efforts to actively participate in specific NARS-led events such as APAARI and GFAR.

We have a good history of working with small and medium scale enterprises. We also work effectively with large enterprises to enhance the speed of development of our products (such as improved germplasm and technology). The new Pioneer-CIMMYT joint effort to develop maize germplasm for higher nitrogen use efficiency in Africa is an example.

External perception and review
Two real highlights from an institutional perspective were our top ranking in the CGIAR-World Bank performance indicators and the positive review from the External Program and Management Review panel that took the time to analyze progress at CIMMYT after their formal report in 2005. The new review report is highly complimentary to CIMMYT. It reports in its summary, “The review team congratulates CIMMYT as a whole—the Board, management and staff—on the substantive progress made since the Fifth EPMR and feels that CIMMYT can now move ahead with confidence and optimism.”

The CGIAR performance indicators range from how many peer-reviewed papers each scientist has published to how good the financial management has been over the year. They also include assessments of governance, impact and science quality.

Partnership in science-led development
This year we were presented with the CGIAR’s highest recognition for science for development—the King Baudoiun Award. The award was given to us for our work on stress-tolerant maize in eastern and southern Africa. This is research that has a 20 year history at CIMMYT, starting with the selection of potential germplasm from the gene bank in the late 1980s and continuing through today with the very successful participatory selection work with farmers through the mother-baby trial system and the dissemination of stress-tolerant maize seed on a wide-scale by national programs, small scale seed companies and communitybased organizations. The work is a fine example of how researchled development can enhance the livelihoods of the rural poor. It is also the result of an extraordinary partnership of researchers, farmers, NARS and donors.

Resource mobilization
In 2006, there were 43 grants signed or approved for about USD 22 million. Many CIMMYT staff members were active in all stages of resource mobilization, from generating concept notes and moving them to full proposals, to investor visits. They and their research-for-development partners are to be congratulated for their hard work. It is the kind of effort we will have to continue every year to ensure we have the resources to fulfill our mission. A summary of the current status of new grants received and the project proposal pipeline are given monthly in CIMMYT Resource Mobilization intranet site at http://intranet. cimmyt.org/Resource_ Mobilization/e-index.htm.

Challenges in the new year, 2007
We end 2006 with great satisfaction for the above achievements. We will continue, in the new year, to strive for scientific excellence and organizational effectiveness. The environment surrounding our work is, unfortunately, increasingly uncertain. It includes donor funding, intellectual property policy and the viability of CGIAR as an effective system. We will need to address those challenges in a proactive manner and stay focused on our work while showing resilience and accepting such uncertainties as a matter of institutional life.

In closing, I wish you and your families the very best for this season and the new year. Without your efforts none of our success would be possible.

Visit builds links with China

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On Friday, November 17, El BatĂĄn played host to a delegation from the National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC), accompanied by Zhong-Hu He, regional wheat coordinator for East Asia based at CIMMYT China. The visitors were Jie Wang, Vice President, Feng Feng, Deputy Director General (life science department), and Yinglan Zhang, Division Director (department of international collaboration).

The visit aimed to develop collaborative research projects between scientists from NSFC and CIMMYT’s wheat and maize programs and genetic resources and enhancement unit. Priority research areas include durable disease resistance, yield potential and grain quality in wheat, and disease resistance, drought tolerance, and high oil content in maize.

The visitors met with key scientists from headquarters for presentations and discussions. The group also saw CIMMYT’s work in action, visiting the Plant Genetic Resources Center, the biotechnology laboratories, the Crop Research Informatics Laboratory, and the Grain Quality Laboratory. On Saturday, November 18, the group spent the day at Tlaltizapán experiment station, where the research focus is on breeding mid-altitude and subtropical maize.

Help to handle the hazards

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On Monday, November 14, an eight-hour course on hazardous materials took place at El BatĂĄn. It was run by biologist Claudina PĂ©rez Baldovino, and covered the proper handling of hazardous materials in the workplace and how to interpret product safety information. Participants considered the effects of hazardous materials, personal protection equipment and emergency procedures.

CIMMYT China helps build Chinese-US links

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A Chinese-US Workshop on ‘Crop Genomics Applications to Plant Breeding and Biotechnology’ was held at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS) in Beijing on October 23-25, with organizational support from CIMMYT. The 24 participants included 12 scientists from the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDAARS). The workshop aimed to increase understanding between Chinese and USDA scientists, and successfully identified 12 areas of common interest.

The workshop was opened with welcome speeches from Zhanyuan Du, Director General of the Rural Development Department of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), and Dr. Lijian Zhang, Vice President of CAAS, and the participants were joined by Edward B. Knipling, USDA-ARS Administrator, for the welcome dinner. During the workshop they heard more than 20 presentations covering safeguarding germplasm; applied genomics for improvements of wheat, maize, soybean, and rice; and biotechnology, communications and policy issues. The US scientists were also invited to visit laboratories at CAAS, China Agricultural University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This workshop was facilitated by Zhonghu He of the CIMMYT China office and Kay Simmons of USDA. Zhongu He is MOST’s theme leader for Chinese-US collaboration on biotechnology and germplasm. CIMMYT’s efforts in organizing the workshop were highly appreciated by CAAS and all the participants.

CIMMYT quality protein maize hybrids shine in 2005-06 trials

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In global trials during 2005-06, white-grained, quality protein maize (QPM) experimental hybrids from CIMMYT significantly outyielded the best seed industry checks. QPM grain contains nearly twice normal maize’s levels of the essential amino acids, lysine and tryptophan. Normal and single-cross (two inbred lines as parents) QPM hybrids were tested at 15 locations in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and three-way-cross (an inbred line and a single-cross hybrid as parents) QPM hybrids were tested at 44 locations in Central America, Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela. The best white-grained QPM hybrids beat the best seed industry checks across country sites and at more than 50 individual locations.

“This is a new generation of QPM hybrids,” says CIMMYT maize breeder and Distinguished Scientist, Hugo Cordova. “In Mexico two of the experimental hybrids out-yielded the checks by 28% and 38%. Ear rot was heavy in Central America in 2005 as a result of Hurricane Stan, but the best QPM hybrids showed damage levels well below those seen in seed industry checks.”

Cordova, who has led QPM research and dissemination with partners since the mid-1990s, recently visited a trial sown in the field of a farmer in Tepalcingo, Morelos State, Mexico, by former CIMMYT maize breeder, Narciso Vergara, now working with the company BIOFABRICA SIGLO XXI, which markets QPM and biofertilizers as package.

During 2006 partners in the Agrosalud Project, funded by CIDA-Canada and implemented by CIMMYT, are conducting nearly 600 demonstrations worldwide involving QPM hybrids and varieties. Preliminary results indicate good acceptance by farmers. Production of basic and commercial seed is in progress. The release by national agencies of new QPM cultivars is expected for early 2007.

PHOTO: “This maize has good yield and the ears are clean of rot,” says Farmer J. JesĂșs Rebolloza Vergara of Tepalcingo, Morelos State, Mexico. He and CIMMYT maize breeder Hugo Cordova stand before a pile of the CIMMYT QPM hybrid 519c, an improved version of a hybrid originally released by the Mexican National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP). The same hybrid is being evaluated in El Salvador for release as “Platino” in 2007. Rebolloza lent the 0.6 hectare plot shown here for 2006 trials in which CIMMYT QPM hybrids beat popular seed industry hybrids.

Delbert Hess’ work is recognized

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Former CIMMYT maize program director Delbert Hess has received the Genetics and Plant Breeding Award for Industry from the Crop Science Society of America and the US National Council of Commercial Plant Breeders. The award is presented to a crop scientist who has made significant contributions to genetics and plant breeding as part of work in the private sector. Congratulations, Delbert!

Workshop on fueling the future

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An international technical workshop on ‘Bioethanol, maize and wheat: opportunities and risks’, jointly organized by CIMMYT and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), with the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) and the Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), was held on 4–5 November in New Delhi. The meeting was a forum for debate and knowledge-sharing, and will form a springboard to future research and action.

About 40 participants came from across the globe and included researchers, policy makers and managers from the public and private sectors in agriculture, rural development and environment. Attending from CIMMYT were John Dixon, Olaf Erenstein, Raj Gupta, Masa Iwanaga, Rodomiro Ortiz, and Ashish Srivastava.

The focus was on the wide range of potential opportunities and risks, posed by the ongoing expansion in biofuels, for the food security and livelihoods of the poor and for the environment. These are complex and not yet well understood. For example, higher grain prices due to demand for use in biofuels may boost farmers’ incomes, but may also lead to increased hunger and malnutrition.

CIMMYT and IFPRI are conducting a joint assessment of likely effects on food stocks and trade, national and household food security, and farm household livelihoods; John Dixon of CIMMYT and Siwa Msangi of IFPRI presented the workshop with an overview and scenario analysis. Delegates considered specific aspects of using biofuels, including national status and strategies in India, China, and Uganda, technical and environmental issues, and opportunities and risks in different agro-ecosystems. The participants ended by identifying and discussing priority issues for research.

The conclusions and recommendations will be presented to GFAR and to the CGIAR AGM in December, where CIMMYT will lead a side event on biofuels.

Release of new CIMMYT-derived maize hybrid in Peru

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A new maize hybrid, INIA 609 Naylamp, which yielded as much as 10 tons per hectare in marginal soils, based on data gathered from trials at 36 locations in the agriculturally rich province of Lambayeque, Peru, was released in the provincial capital of Chiclayo on 06 October. INIA 609 Naylamp is one of several Peruvian hybrids developed using CIMMYT inbred lines—two from population 24 and one from population 36—sent to Peruvian breeders 15 years ago.

“Naylamp” was a mythological character of ancient Peru who arrived from abroad to bring civilization to the region. INIA 609 Naylamp was developed by Pedro Injante Silva, breeder at the Vista Florida, Chiclayo, research station of Peru’s Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Extensión Agraria (INIEA). Injante is an alumnus of CIMMYT training courses on crop improvement and maize agronomy in Mexico and Venezuela.

The release ceremony was attended by more than 250 persons, with the Vice Minister of Agriculture Carlos Luna Conroy presiding and dignitaries of other branches of the Ministry of Agriculture from Lambayeque and Chiclayo, from the Regents Commission, and from farmer groups. Testing and promotion of the hybrid during 2003 and 2005 was funded by the Peruvian MOA program INCAGRO. INIA 609 Naylamp also showed excellent performance in trials under zero-tillage.

Highlights of Hugo Córdova’s work

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Salvadoran national and graduate of the Universidad AutĂłnoma Agraria “Antonio Narro” (Agronomy, 1969; Honoris Causa Doctorate, 1996) and the Colegio de Postgraduados (MSc in plant breeding, 1973), CĂłrdova came to CIMMYT as a postdoctoral fellow in the Maize Program in 1975. During 1980-86 he focused on coordinating and supporting the research of CIMMYT and partners under the highly successful Programa Regional de MaĂ­z para CentroamĂ©rica y el Caribe, and continues adding value to efforts of maize researchers in that region.

Maize varieties to whose development Cordova contributed are sown on more than 300,000 hectares in Central America. He has served on different occasions as head of CIMMYT research on both lowland tropical maize and subtropical maize, contributing to breeding methodologies and, particularly, the development of quality hybrids for tropical maize areas.

As a key input since 1998, CĂłrdova has led efforts with partners worldwide to improve and promote quality protein maize (QPM), a CIMMYT product grown previously on little more than 150,000 hectares in 6 countries and now sown on more than 650,000 hectares in 25 developing countries.

Congratulations to Hugo and the other scientists for their achievements and well-deserved promotions!

Highland maize takes off in Ethiopia

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CIMMYT staff in Ethiopia recently participated in field days organized by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) showcasing newly-released highland maize varieties based on CIMMYT materials. The first, held near Ambo on 14 October, was attended by Strafford Twumasi-Afriyie, CIMMYT maize breeder based in Ethiopia. Some 1000 people attended the second field day near Bu’i on 21 October, including Twumasi and Dennis Friesen, agronomist and CIMMYT liaison officer in Ethiopia.

“There is great enthusiasm from farmers, especially those who could not believe that maize could be grown at their altitude [about 2,700 m]. There is strong demand to further expand the technology next year,” says Friesen.

These new varieties are the result of a program of collaborative research begun in 1998 by CIMMYT and EIAR to develop maize varieties suitable for the highlands of Ethiopia and other central and eastern African countries. Considerable investment from both partners led to the release in 2005 of one new hybrid variety, AMH800 (known locally as Arganne), and one open-pollinated variety, AMB02SYN1, known as Hora.

Around 550 farmers have participated with EIAR in scaling up, including around 60 who have planted demonstration plots in the Bu’i area and similar numbers near Ambo.

The field days were held to demonstrate the new highland maize varieties’ performance and potential to help lift farmers out of poverty. Farmers, researchers, cooperative and union members, administrators, educators, and development partners have all attended and shared their experiences. A number of dignitaries, including members of parliament, were also present.

Danish CIMMYT staff member breaks cover to break record

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Jesper NĂžrgaard, Project Leader in the Crop Research Informatics Lab (CRIL), is sometimes to be seen playing chess in the atrium at El BatĂĄn, but did you know that he is ranked the fifth-best player in Mexico? If not, you are not alone: Jesper is modest about his chess master status, and still surprises colleagues after 15 years at CIMMYT.

You can see him in action from 10 am on Sunday 22 October, in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most people playing chess at the same time – last set in Cuba by an event with around 13,000 players. Organizers of ‘El Festival de Ajedrez’ are hoping that this time 13,500 people will play chess in the Zócalo in Mexico City. Master players – Jesper among them – will play simultaneous games against around 30 people of all abilities. Anyone can take part, so if you know your knight from your bishop you could help break the record. If you arrive early you could even try requesting Jesper as your opponent!

Chess has been a big part of Jesper’s life. He started playing when he was around nine years old with a chess set given to him by his grandparents, and became serious about it a few years later. He even met his wife through chess: at 19 he took part in the Junior World Chess Championship in Mexico, where his future wife was working as a guide, and so began a relationship that eventually blossomed over years of correspondence.

He usually plays at a chess club several times a week and has been known to play 15-20 tournaments a year, though the birth last December of his baby twins, Majken and Magnus, has meant that he has had a quiet year – on the chess front at least! Jesper enjoys chess for the mental challenge, and because there is no element of luck – as he says, “whether you win or lose you have no-one to blame except yourself.” He attributes his success to hard work, and his advice to budding players is to play regularly, analyze your games for mistakes and missed opportunities, and study openings, endgames, tactics and strategies.

UPDATE: CIMMYT chess player helps shatter world record

Mexico hit the headlines around the world last weekend, and the Zócalo was even more crowded than usual, when thousands arrived to break the world record for the number of simultaneous chess games. CIMMYT’s very own chess master, Jesper Norgaard, was among them.

He was one of around 700 simultaneous players, and played against 25 individuals, winning all 25 games in around two and a half hours. In total, 13,446 acknowledged games were played. Jesper also took part in a blitz tournament with other masters and placed third. Congratulations!

Two other Guinness World Records were also broken: from the air, the players formed a huge chessboard, the biggest ever human logo. Former World Champion Anatolij Karpov broke the third record by signing 1951 books (stopping here at the year he was born!) in a session lasting more than 6 hours

Paper wins award

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A scientific paper which includes among its authors CIMMYT scientists Jose Crossa, Suketoshi Taba and Uruguayan researcher and CIMMYT partner Jorge Franco has been given an award by the prestigious journal, Crop Science as one of the three outstanding papers of 2005 in plant genetic resources.

The paper is titled “A Sampling Strategy for Conserving Genetic Diversity when Forming Core Subsets” and furthers the science of genetic resource conservation statistics, a science in which this team is a world leader.

In 2005, 31 papers were eligible. An awards committee selected the three outstanding plant genetic resources papers by secret ballot. Reviewers identified outstanding papers based on scientific merit and innovation in discovery of novel agronomic genes from exotic germplasm by classical or molecular methods, statistical or molecular methods for quantifying genetic diversity, methods to improve germplasm regeneration and maintenance, and new approaches in the study of genetic diversity.

This is the second year in a row a paper from CIMMYT has won this award. Congratulations!

First international meeting of the GRI

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The First International Workshop of the Global Rust Initiative (GRI), 9-11 October, ended in Alexandria, Egypt, with agreement that a tremendous coordinated effort is needed to combat the resurgence of wheat stem rust, a fungal disease that could place the entire world’s wheat production in serious jeopardy.

Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and former Chairman of the CGIAR, made the library’s conference facilities available to the workshop. Fifty-six participants from 21 countries attended the three-day consultation to exchange research results to date and map out priority areas for the GRI activities.

“This is a global threat, and no single country can provide a solution; only by working together can we tackle it,” CIMMYT Director General Masa Iwanaga told the meeting.

“We have the world’s leading rust scientists here saying that we have a potentially explosive situation on our hands,” said the GRI Coordinator, CIMMYT wheat scientist Rick Ward. “And we basically have to replace all the wheat in the world.” “The caliber of scientists present and the terrific sense of urgency enabled us to address a great array of critical issues during the workshop. I believe all participants felt the event was a success,” said Ward.

Outcomes of Nairobi MC and Board meetings

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The management committee (MC) met in Nairobi, 28-29 September, prior to the Board of Trustees meeting, and had an excellent discussion on research planning, resource allocation, and budgeting processes in CIMMYT. The CGIAR Science Council requires centers to plan, budget, and implement all research activities within the context of the medium-term plan (MTP) Projects. For this and other reasons, the MC agreed in Nairobi on some new policies and procedures with regard to research priority setting, research planning, resource allocations, and budgeting.

The previous portfolio of 11 MTP Projects has been reduced to 8, with each director responsible for two:
P1: Genetic resources (GREU, Jonathan Crouch)
P2: Breeding tools (GREU, Jonathan Crouch)
P3: Abiotic and biotic stress maize (Marianne BĂ€nziger)
P4: Quality and specialty maize (Marianne BĂ€nziger)
P7: Water use efficient wheat (Hans Braun)
P8: Wheat yield and quality (Hans Braun)
P10: Maize and wheat systems (John Dixon)
P11: Impacts and targeting (John Dixon)

The regional maize Projects (Africa and Latin America/ Asia) have been rolled into trait-based Projects. The wheat Projects have been aggregated along with the core aspects of conservation agriculture applicable to both maize and wheat systems. The latter will be managed as a cross-cutting Project, similar to the impacts and targeting Project. The numbering for the Projects retained is the same as in the MTP, following CGIAR requirements. Directors will explain in greater detail the implications of the changes, particularly with respect to restricted projects that may be re-allocated. Apart from bringing CIMMYT in line with Science Council requirements, the changes more closely align our flagship products with the Projects that deliver them.

CIMMYT and John Dodds bid each other fond farewell

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At a luncheon organized by CIMMYT in his honor in the RincĂłn Mexicano on 22 September 2006, out-going Deputy Director General for Research, John Dodds, thanked CIMMYT for the fond memories and excellent support during his two-year stay here.

“I’d worked at other CG centers before coming to CIMMYT, and you always think of CIMMYT as a place of excellence with the most outstanding scientific and communications staff, so it was a dream come true for me to get this job,” he said.

The luncheon was attended by some 30 staff, including directors, researchers, and personnel from support units. Director General Masa Iwanaga mentioned John’s habit of constantly monitoring his email and recalled how, when he was in Washington and first got in touch with John about the job, he sent him a message: “I got a reply in about five minutes!”

Masa read the words of the commemorative plaque, signed by himself and Board Chair Lene Lange, that was presented to John: “The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center wishes to recognize and thank John Dodds who, during 2004-06, fostered scientific dialog, innovation, and efficiency by re-establishing the biannual science forum and, through his leadership in developing the business plan, helped reshape CIMMYT and cultivate a delivery-focused approach in research. His accomplishments included enhancing Center partnerships with ICARDA and IRRI and spearheading a global initiative to combat and control the spread of stem rust. Finally, his concern and talents for human relations and sincere and direct efforts in communication contributed significantly to staff morale.”

CIMMYT wishes you all the best in future endeavors, John!