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Smartphones drive data collection revolution, boost climate-smart agriculture in Bangladesh

Written by Matthew O'Leary on . Posted in News.

Farmer receiving information from a phone-based service. (Photo: Michelle DeFreese/CIMMYT)

Agricultural research is entering a new age in Bangladesh. The days, months and years it takes to collect farm data with a clipboard, paper and pen are nearing their end.

Electronic smartphones and tablets are gaining ground, used by researchers, extension workers and farmers to revolutionize the efficiency of data collection and provide advice on best-bet practices to build resilient farming systems that stand up to climate change.

Digital data collection tools are crucial in today’s ‘big data’ driven agricultural research world and are fundamentally shifting the speed and accuracy of agricultural research, said Timothy Krupnik, Senior Scientist and Systems Agronomist at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT).

“Easy-to-use data collection tools can be made available on electronic tablets for surveys. These allow extension workers to collect data from the farm and share it instantaneously with researchers,” he said.

“These tools allow the regular and rapid collection of data from farmers, meaning that researchers and extension workers can get more information than they would alone in a much quicker time frame.”

“This provides a better picture of the challenges farmers have, and once data are analyzed, we can more easily develop tailored solutions to farmers’ problems,” Krupnik explained.

Through the USAID and Bill and Melinda Gates supported Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA), and the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) supported Big Data Analytics for Climate-Smart Agriculture in South Asia projects, 125 Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) agents were trained throughout Bangladesh to use tablets to gather agronomic information from rice and wheat farmers.

It is the first time extension workers have been involved in data collection in the country. Since the pilot began in late 2019, extension workers have collected data from over 5,000 farmers, with detailed information on climate responses, including the management of soil, water and variety use to understand what drives productivity. The DAE is enthused about learning from the data, and plans to collect information from 7,000 more farmers in 2020.

Bangladesh’s DAE is directly benefiting through partnerships with expert national and international researchers developing systems to efficiently collect and analyze massive amounts of data to generate relevant climate-smart recommendations for farmers, said the department Director General Dr. M. Abdul Muyeed.

Workers spread maize crop for drying at a wholesale grain market. (Photo: Dreamstime.com)

For the first time widespread monitoring examines how farmers are coping with climate stresses, and agronomic data are being used to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from thousands of individual farmers. This research and extension partnership aims at identifying ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change, he explained.

“This work will strengthen our ability to generate agriculturally relevant information and increase the climate resilience of smallholder farmers in Bangladesh,” Dr. Muyeed said.

Next-gen big data analysis produces best-bet agricultural practices

“By obtaining big datasets such as these, we are now using innovative research methods and artificial intelligence (AI) to examine patterns in productivity, the climate resilience of cropping practices, and greenhouse gas emissions. Our aim is to develop and recommend improved agricultural practices that are proven to increase yields and profitability,” said Krupknik.

The surveys can also be used to evaluate on-farm tests of agricultural technologies, inform need-based training programs, serve local knowledge centers and support the marketing of locally relevant agricultural technologies, he explained.

“Collecting farm-specific data on greenhouse gas emissions caused by agriculture and recording its causes is a great step to develop strategies to reduce agriculture’s contribution to climate change,” added Krupnik.

Global greenhouse gas emissions from the food system

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in Infographics.

Global schemes to fight climate change may miss their mark by ignoring the “fundamental connections” in how food is produced, supplied and consumed, say scientists in a new paper published in the journal Nature Food. Global bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), handle the different components of the food system separately. This includes crop and livestock production; food processing, storage and transport; and food consumption. Scientists argue this disjointed approach may harm strategies to reduce food emissions and safeguard food from climate impacts, and that a “comprehensive” and “unified” approach is needed.

Food and climate change are deeply interlinked, but food emissions need to be tracked beyond the “farm gate,” that is, beyond the emissions arising from growing crops or raising livestock. Researchers are uncovering new insights on how the different subcomponents of the food system contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation. They argue that we must understand how these components work together — or clash in some cases — in order to effectively address agriculture in a changing climate.

Read more:
Rosenzweig C et al. 2020. Climate change responses benefit from a global food system approach. Nature Food.

One-minute science: Khondoker Mottaleb on how to meet food demand by 2030

Written by Mary Donovan on . Posted in Videos.

How can we ensure we have enough food to meet the demand by 2030? First, we need to understand food consumption patterns and how they are influenced by variables such as urbanization, population and economic growth, income, beliefs and more. 

Agricultural economist Khondoker Mottaleb is working on a project to examine food demand by 2030, considering these factors. Watch him share preliminary results — in just one minute.  

Bringing landraces back home, 50 years later

Written by Carolyn Cowan on . Posted in Videos.

 

Maize is more than a crop in Mexico. In many cases, it connects families with their past. Landraces are maize varieties that have been cultivated and subjected to selection by farmers for generations, retaining a distinct identity and lacking formal crop improvement. They provide the basis of Mexico’s maize diversity.

Back in 1966-67, researcher Ángel Kato from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) collected 93 maize landraces samples from 66 families in Mexico’s state of Morelos. These seeds were safeguarded in CIMMYT’s Germplasm Bank, which today stores 28,000 samples of maize and its wild relatives from 88 countries.

50 years later, doctoral candidate Denisse McLean-Rodriguez, from the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Italy, and researchers from CIMMYT started a new study to trace the conservation and abandonment of maize landraces over the years.

The study shows that landrace abandonment is common when farming passes from one generation to the next. Older farmers were attached to their landraces and continued cultivating them, even in the face of pressing reasons to change or replace them. When the younger generations take over farm management, these landraces are often abandoned. Nonetheless, young farmers still value the cultural importance of landraces.

Maize landraces can be conserved “in situ” in farmers’ fields and “ex situ” in a protected space such as a germplasm bank or community seed bank. The loss of landraces in farmers’ fields over 50 years emphasizes the importance of ex situ conservation. Traits found in landraces can be incorporated into new varieties to address some of the world’s most pressing agriculture challenges like changing climates, emerging pests and disease, and malnutrition.

This research was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE), the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Wageningen University and the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

‘Sharing’ or ‘sparing’ land?

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in Blogs. 4 Comments on ‘Sharing’ or ‘sparing’ land?

Any fifth grader is familiar with the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction, which saw dinosaurs — and three quarters of all species alive at that time — disappear from Earth, probably after it was struck by a very large asteroid. However, few people are aware the planet is currently going through a similar event of an equally large magnitude: a recent report from the World Wide Fund for Nature highlighted a 60% decline in the populations of over 4,000 vertebrate species monitored globally since 1970. This time, the culprit is not an asteroid, but human beings. The biggest threat we represent to other species is also the way we meet one of our most fundamental needs: food production.

As a response, scientists, particularly ecologists, have looked for strategies to minimize trade-offs between agriculture and biodiversity. One such strategy is “land sparing,” also known as the “Borlaug effect.” It seeks to segregate production and conservation and to maximize yield on areas as small as possible, sparing land for nature. Another strategy is “land sharing” or “wildlife-friendly farming,” which seeks to integrate production and conservation in the same land units and make farming as benign as possible to biodiversity. It minimizes the use of external inputs and retains unfarmed patches on farmland.

A heated debate between proponents of land sparing and proponents of land sharing has taken place over the past 15 years. Most studies, however, have found land sparing to lead to better outcomes than land sharing, in a range of contexts. With collaborators from CIFOR, UBC and other organizations, I hypothesized that this belief was biased because researchers assessed farming through a narrow lens, only looking at calories or crop yield.

Many more people today suffer from hidden hunger, or lack of vitamins and minerals in their diets, than lack of calories. Several studies have found more diverse and nutritious diets consumed by people living in or near areas with greater tree cover as trees are a key component of biodiversity. However, most of these studies have not looked at mechanisms explaining this positive association.

Forests for food

Studying seven tropical landscapes in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nicaragua and Zambia, we found evidence that tree cover directly supports diets in four landscapes out of seven. This may be through the harvest of bushmeat, wild fruits, wild vegetables and other forest-sourced foods. The study further found evidence of an agroecological pathway — that forests and trees support diverse crop and livestock production through an array of ecosystem services, ultimately leading to improved diets — in five landscapes out of seven. These results clearly demonstrate that although land sparing may have the best outcomes for biodiversity, it would cut off rural households from forest products such as forest food, firewood and livestock feed. It would also cut off smallholder farms from ecosystem services provided by biodiversity, and smallholders in the tropics tend to depend more on ecosystem services than on external inputs.

In Ethiopia, previous research conducted by some of the same authors has demonstrated that multifunctional landscapes that do not qualify as land sparing nor as land sharing may host high biodiversity whilst being more productive than simpler landscapes. They are more sustainable and resilient, provide more diverse diets and produce cereals with higher nutritional content.

The debate on land sparing vs. sharing has largely remained confined to the circles of conservation ecologists and has seldom involved agricultural scientists. As a result, most studies on land sparing vs. sharing have focused on minimizing the negative impact of farming on biodiversity, instead of looking for the best compromises between agricultural production and biodiversity conservation.

To design landscapes that truly balance the needs of people and nature, it is urgent for agronomists, agricultural economists, rural sociologists and crop breeders to participate in the land sparing vs. sharing debate.

Read more:
Testing the Various Pathways Linking Forest Cover to Dietary Diversity in Tropical Landscapes

This study was made possible by funding from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the project Agrarian Change in Tropical Landscapes, and by the CGIAR Research Programs on MAIZE and WHEAT.

Representatives of the Satmile Satish Club (SSCOP) meet with members of the Grambikash Farmers Producer Company in Sitai, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India. (Photo: SSCOP)

New year, new beginnings

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in News.

Representatives of the Satmile Satish Club (SSCOP) meet with members of the Grambikash Farmers Producer Company in Sitai, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India. (Photo: SSCOP)
Representatives of the Satmile Satish Club (SSCOP) meet with members of the Grambikash Farmers Producer Company in Sitai, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India. (Photo: SSCOP)

For many years, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has been working to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of smallholder agriculture in India through conservation agriculture and sustainable intensification practices. The Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project began in 2014 in the state of West Bengal, with participatory research in eight farming cooperatives from the cities of Cooch Behar and Malda. Through the SRFSI project, CIMMYT has helped encourage women to participate in agricultural processes, adopt sustainable practices for various crops and utilize new technologies to improve their livelihoods.

Women farmers in West Bengal have demonstrated an interest in part-time agribusiness occupations. Some of them are coming together to form farmer groups and cooperatives that make a profit.

Mooni Bibi and other women from her community founded the Mukta Self Help Group. This organization of female farmers, supported by CIMMYT through the SRFSI project, helped turned rice cultivation into a business opportunity that helps other women. As a result of these efforts, these women now enjoy more financial freedom, can afford healthier food, are able to provide a better education for their children and benefit from an improved social standing within the community.

The Satmile Satish Club O Pathagar (SSCOP), a CIMMYT partner, has been vital in this process. SSCOP is now a resource for technical support and a training hub for conservation agriculture. It is now focused on introducing conservation agriculture practices to more areas, beginning with Sitai, a new neighborhood in Cooch Behar. This area is rich in proactive female farmers, but its agricultural sector is not fully modernized yet.

A group of women in Sitai founded Grambikash Farmers Producer Company, another farming cooperative that aims to increase crop yields and promote sustainability. The company challenges social norms and helps women become more financially and socially independent. This group of entrepreneurs is committed to apply conservation agriculture and sustainable intensification technology on 30 acres of land, beginning in 2020, with continuous support from SSCOP.

Through its work helping farmers in Cooch Behar, SSCOP is now a center of excellence for rural entrepreneurship as well as an advocate for conservation agriculture in West Bengal. They provide technical support and serve as a training hub for conservation agriculture and various associated sectors. Much of the training done by SSCOP is now self-funded.

Since 2014, CIMMYT has been collaborating with SSCOP to reach out to more than 70,000 farmers in Cooch Behar, spreading the benefits of conservation agriculture and sustainable intensification beyond the lifespan of the SRFSI project.

New mobile app helping Latin American farmers increase crop yields by 12%

Written by Mary Donovan on . Posted in In the media.

Rezatec, a leading provider of geospatial data analytics, has launched a free smartphone app which acts as a portal for farmers to record their agricultural activities and provides recommendations for optimal sowing and irrigation scheduling. Based on preliminary results from the experimental stations, the app has demonstrated the potential to increase wheat yields by up to 12%.

“Yaqui Valley farmers are very experienced farmers; however, they can also benefit by using an app that is designed locally to inform and record their decisions,” explains Francelino Rodrigues, Precision Agriculture Scientist at CIMMYT. “Sowing and irrigation timing are well known drivers of yield potential in that region – these are two features of the app we’re about to validate during this next season.”

Read more here: https://www.realwire.com/releases/New-mobile-app-helping-Latin-American-farmers-increase-crop-yields-by-12

 

Fireflies, food and future systems – scientists share inspiration behind choosing science as a lifestyle

Written by Marta Millere on . Posted in Videos.

Plant breeding, genetics, math and software development are all stereotypically male fields. For too long, women have been excluded from these fields for social, religious, cultural and “Oh, it’s a boys’ club, I don’t feel welcome” reasons, thus depriving scientific progress of great female minds and ideas.

In light of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we stopped to ask four scientists and leaders at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) why they chose science. Here are some inspiring highlights.

What made you want to become a scientist?

Margaret Bath, Member of the CIMMYT Board of Trustees: “I love food and I love science and math, so I had the opportunity to combine [
] three things that I love very much and make a great career out of it. I’m a firm believer in math and science as an enabler for solving complex problems that face our society today.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8SFzWyg86c/

Cynthia Ortiz, researcher in CIMMYT’s Genetic Resources Program: “I remember one time when I was watching fireflies. My grandfather approached me and asked me if I understood why they shine and I said ‘no.’ I remember well what he said to me: ‘The world is much more than what we see, hear and feel.’ In that moment, I knew that I wanted to understand more about the things that surround us.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8T52Y7nt_r/

What’s the best thing about being a scientist?

Aparna Das, Technical Program Manager in the Global Maize Program, CIMMYT: “The whole idea where I use information, knowledge and technology to generate biological products was very exciting for me. The biggest learning I have had in the 25 years of my career as a plant-breeding scientist […] has been how I can use the vast information, combine it with the present day technological advances and deliver something for the future, which can address the global food crisis problem, which is looming […] in the near future.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Zeau5neHq/

Philomin Juliana, wheat scientist in CIMMYT’s Global Wheat Program: “How you can use scientific research to answer lots of different questions and how you can solve [
] different problems using math, data analysis. All these are key questions that affect humankind today and how we can design future systems based on our current understanding of systems and also how all these together can help us make a difference in the lives of farmers and the poor.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Z2WTfH-sh/

Are you passionate about science and want more women to get involved? join CIMMYT’s #WhyIChoseScience campaign. Take out your phone, click ‘record’ and share what made you want to become a scientist!

One-minute science: Jelle Van Loon explains mechanization for agriculture

Written by Mary Donovan on . Posted in Videos.

Mechanization is a process of introducing technology or farm equipment to increase field efficiency. CIMMYT’s mechanization work is context-specific, to help farmers have access to the appropriate tools that are new, smart and ideal for their unique farming conditions.  

Jelle Van Loon, CIMMYT mechanization specialist, explains how his team prototypes innovations that allow precision farming and supports different actors in the value chain from importers to policy-makers to create broader availability of farm equipment.  

Early Maturing Short Duration High Yielding White Maize open-pollinated variety. (Photo: MMRI)

Ten new CIMMYT-developed maize varieties released in Pakistan

Written by Mary Donovan on . Posted in News.

Early Maturing Short Duration High Yielding White Maize open-pollinated variety. (Photo: MMRI)
Early Maturing Short Duration High Yielding White Maize open-pollinated variety. (Photo: MMRI)

Pakistan’s maize sector achieved a remarkable milestone in 2019 by releasing ten new maize varieties developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) for commercial cultivation. The new varieties were released by two public sector research institutes.

The Maize and Millets Research Institute (MMRI) in Yousafwala, one of the leading and the oldest maize research institutes in Pakistan, released four open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) sourced from CIMMYT. The varieties, named Gohar-19, CIMMYT-PAK, Sahiwal Gold, and Pop-1 are the newest additions to Pakistan’s maize variety list. All the varieties are short-duration, which means they can be harvested quickly to rotate land for the next crop. They can also be grown in the main and off season, which makes them suitable for many different cropping systems.

The Agricultural Research Institute (ARI) in Quetta received approval for six of CIMMYT’s white kernel OPVs from the Provincial Seed Council (PSC), a government body responsible for variety registration in Balochistan. The varieties are named MERAJ-2019, MAHZAIB-2019, NOOR-2019, PAGHUNDA-2019, SILVER-2019, and SAR-SUBZ-2019. They are early-maturing with high yielding potential & drought tolerance. Drought stress is a major challenge for farmers in the Balochistan province, which covers 45% of Pakistan’s territory.

A group of maize experts visits maize research and seed production fields at the Maize and Millets Research Institute (MMRI) in Yousafwala, Pakistan. (Photo: CIMMYT)
A group of maize experts visits maize research and seed production fields at the Maize and Millets Research Institute (MMRI) in Yousafwala, Pakistan. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Muhammad Arshad, Director of MMRI, acknowledged CIMMYT’s efforts to deploy the wide range of maize germplasm in the country. Arshad added that the Institute is working with partners to widely distribute these seeds to smallholder farmers at a reasonable price. “We are able to harvest maize yields from these early maturing varieties by applying 4-6 irrigations, unlike other varieties that require a minimum of ten irrigations per crop cycle,” said Syed Asmatullah Taran, Director of Cereal Crops at the Agricultural Research Institute in Quetta, Balochistan. “These are the first ever released maize varieties in our province,” he added, applauding CIMMYT for this milestone.

Muhammad Imtiaz, CIMMYT’s Country Representative for Pakistan and leader of the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP), appreciated MMRI and ARI for their dedication and impactful efforts to strengthen the local maize seed system. Imtiaz explained that these new varieties will help cash-strapped smallholder farmers improve their livelihoods.

Through the AIP project, CIMMYT and its partners are helping new seeds reach farmers. “We expect to see more releases in 2020, as many varieties are in the pipeline,” said CIMMYT’s Seed Systems Specialist for South Asia, AbduRahman Beshir. “What is important is to scale up the seed production and distribution of these varieties so that farmers can get their share from the interventions. Water-efficient maize varieties will not only contribute to climate change adaptation strategy, but will also support the livelihood of marginal farmers.” Beshir also emphasized the importance of private sector engagement for seed delivery.

A maize field is prepared manually for planting in Balochistan province, Pakistan. (Photo: CIMMYT)
A maize field is prepared manually for planting in Balochistan province, Pakistan. (Photo: CIMMYT)

Maize is Pakistan’s third most important cereal following wheat and rice, encompassing an area of 1.3 million hectares. Maize productivity is also among the highest in South Asia, with national yields reaching almost 5 tons per hectare.

Despite its growing demand, maize production in Pakistan faces various challenges such as a lack of diverse genotypes suitable for various uses and ecologies, a weak seed delivery system unable to reach marginal farmers, high retail price of seeds and unpredictable weather conditions due to climate changes.  

To enhance the availability, accessibility and affordability of quality maize seeds, the Agricultural Innovation Program (AIP) for Pakistan, led by CIMMYT and funded by USAID, is working with partners to benefit smallholder farmers across the country. The project focuses on the development and deployment of market-ready maize products sourced from different breeding hubs and systematically testing their adaptation in order to accelerate seed and varietal replacement in Pakistan. In the last six years, AIP’s public and private partners were able to access over 60 finished maize products and more than 150 parental lines from CIMMYT and IITA for further testing, variety registration, demonstration and seed scale up.

Include small indigenous production systems to improve rural livelihoods

Written by Mary Donovan on . Posted in Press releases.

Maize-bean intercrop in the milpa system of the western highlands of Guatemala. (Photo: Carlos Gonzalez Esquivel)

Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee, United States, and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Texcoco, Mexico, describe why it is important for technical assistance to build upon indigenous farming knowledge and include women if programs are to succeed in tackling poverty and hunger in rural, Mesoamerican communities. Their findings, describing recent work in the Guatemalan Highlands, are recently published in Nature Sustainability.

According to government figures, 59% of Guatemalans live in poverty, concentrated in indigenous rural areas, such as the Western Highlands. Many factors contribute to pervasive malnutrition and a lack of employment opportunities for people in the Highlands. Recent crop failures associated with atypical weather events have exacerbated food shortages for Highland farm communities.

In early 2019, 90% of recent migrants to the southern border of the United States were from Guatemala, a majority of those from regions such as the Western Highlands. When they are unable to produce or purchase enough food to feed their families, people seek opportunities elsewhere. Historically, sugar cane and coffee industries offered employment but as prices for these commodities fall, fewer options for work are available within the region.

Indigenous peoples in the Highlands have been using a traditional agricultural production system called milpa for thousands of years. The milpa system involves growing maize together with climbing beans, squash, and other crops on a small plot of land. The maize plants support the growth of the climbing beans; the beans enrich soil through biological nitrogen fixation; and squash and other crops protect the soil from erosion, retain water, and prevent weeds.

However, frequent crop failures, declining farm sizes, and other factors result in low household production, forcing families to turn to non-agricultural sources of income or assistance from a family member working abroad. Studies have shown that as household income declines, dietary diversity decreases, which exacerbates undernutrition.

In prior decades, technical assistance for agriculture in Central America focused on larger farms and non-traditional export crops. The researchers recommend inclusion of indigenous communities to enhance milpa systems. Nutrition and employment options can be improved by increasing crop diversity and adopting improved seed varieties that are adapted to the needs of the local communities. This approach requires investments that recognize and advance ancestral knowledge and the role of indigenous women in milpa systems. The Nature Sustainability commentary highlights that technical assistance needs to include women and youth and should increase resilience in production systems to climate change, related weather events, pests, and disease.

“Improving linkages among local farmers, extensionists, students, and researchers is critical to identify and implement opportunities that result in more sustainable agricultural landscapes,” said Keith Kline, senior researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “For example, improved bean varieties have been developed that provide high-yields and disease resistance, but if they grow too aggressively, they choke out other milpa crops. And successful adoption of improved varieties also depends on whether flavor and texture meet local preferences.”

Strengthening institutions to improve agricultural development, health care, security, education can help create stronger livelihoods and provide the Western Highlands community with a foundation for healthier families and economic stability. As more reliable options become available to feed one’s family, fewer Guatemalans will feel pressured to leave home.

PUBLICATION:

“Enhance indigenous agricultural systems to reduce migration”

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:

Santiago Lopez-Ridaura, Senior Scientist, CIMMYT

FOR MORE INFORMATION, OR TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS, CONTACT THE MEDIA TEAM:

Rodrigo Ordóñez, Communications Manager, CIMMYT.
r.ordonez@cgiar.org, +52 (55) 5804 2004 ext. 1167.

Ricardo Curiel, Communications Officer, CIMMYT.
r.curiel@cgiar.org, +52 (55) 5804 2004 ext. 1144.

ABOUT CIMMYT:

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is the global leader in publicly-funded maize and wheat research and related farming systems. Headquartered near Mexico City, CIMMYT works with hundreds of partners throughout the developing world to sustainably increase the productivity of maize and wheat cropping systems, thus improving global food security and reducing poverty. CIMMYT is a member of the CGIAR System and leads the CGIAR Research Programs on Maize and Wheat and the Excellence in Breeding Platform. The Center receives support from national governments, foundations, development banks and other public and private agencies. For more information, visit staging.cimmyt.org.