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CIMMYT and China: A successful partnership since 1974

Written by Mike Listman on . Posted in Videos.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is a non-profit international organization focused on applied agricultural research and training. It empowers farmers through science and innovation to nourish the world in the midst of a climate crisis.

Established in 1974, the research partnership between the People’s Republic of China and CIMMYT is improving the lives of millions of people in China through science-driven, evidence-based solutions. CIMMYT has five offices and over 20 collaborators throughout China.

The CIMMYT–China collaboration over four decades has added some 10.7 million additional tons of wheat to China’s national wheat output. Since 2000, CIMMYT germplasm has been planted on more than one million hectares across the country.

We look forward to many more years of collaboration to improve the lives of millions of people in China and the world.

Cover photo: An agricultural landscape in Yunnan Province, China. (Photo: Michelle DeFreese/CIMMYT)

Wei Xiong

Written by Rodrigo Ordóñez on . Posted in Uncategorized.

Wei Xiong is an interdisciplinary researcher focusing on the interactions between agricultural production and environment, with specific experiences in climate change and agriculture, development of agricultural system modeling tools, evaluation of climate-smart agriculture, and Genotype by Environment Interaction analysis.

Xiong is good at using cutting-edge technologies (such as cloud computing, machine learning, big data, HPC, and bioinformatics) in G×E×M interaction analysis, with a track record of improving short- and long-term agricultural forecast models at the local, national, and global scales. He is also interested in smart agriculture, agricultural AI, and innovative predictive approaches from genomics to phenomics.

China’s vice premier ushers in new era of agricultural collaboration

Written by on . Posted in News.

China’s Vice Premier Liu Yandong (right) with CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff. Photo: A. Cortes/CIMMYT
China’s Vice Premier Liu Yandong (right) with CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff. Photo: A. Cortes/CIMMYT

TEXCOCO, Mexico (CIMMYT) — A new collaborative program promising to train Chinese Ph.D. and postdoctoral students annually at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) builds on the three decade relationship the organization holds with China.

The memorandum of understanding was signed during China’s Vice Premier Liu Yandong’s visit to CIMMYT on 9 August by the Secretary General of the Chinese Scholarship Council Liu Jinghui and CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff.

“In the face of climate change, water shortages and other challenges, innovative strategies to agricultural development are necessary for China’s future development,” Yandong said. “We hope to strengthen cooperation with CIMMYT — this will have a tremendous effect on both China and the world.”

Since 1970, more than 20 Chinese institutes have been involved in germplasm exchange and improvement, conservation agriculture and capacity building, with 56 Chinese researchers receiving their doctoral degrees with CIMMYT. Since the CIMMYT-China Office was opened in 1997, 26 percent of wheat grown in China has derived from CIMMYT materials.

Secretary General of the Chinese Scholarship Council Liu Jinghui (left) with CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding to train 10 PhD and Postdoc students at CIMMYT each year. Photo: A. Cortes/CIMMYT
Secretary General of the Chinese Scholarship Council Liu Jinghui (left) with CIMMYT Director General Martin Kropff during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding to train 10 PhD and Postdoc students at CIMMYT each year. Photo: A. Cortes/CIMMYT

During the visit, the vice premier discussed China’s new five-year plan (2016 – 2020) that focuses on innovation, international cooperation and green growth, to modernize agriculture in an environmental friendly way over the next 20 to 30 years.

Benefits of three decades of international collaboration in wheat research have added as much as 10.7 million tons of grain – worth $3.4 billion – to China’s national wheat output. Eight CIMMYT scientists have won the Chinese Friendship Award – the highest award for “foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s economic and social progress.”

CIMMYT strengthens collaboration with China

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CIMMYT DG Tom Lumpkin had a successful visit to China during 16-17 October, signing agreements with the China Scholarship Council (CSC) and China Agricultural University (CAU). Starting in 2009, CSC will sponsor ten postgraduate students and visiting scientists to come to CIMMYT for collaborative research stays ranging from 6 to 24 months.

The scholarship includes international travel costs, insurance, and living allowance, and will increase CIMMYT’s training capacity for China. The agreement with CAU cemented a collaborative maize research program focusing on genomics, transgenics, germplasm exchange, bioinformatics, and conservation agriculture technologies. This collaborative program will create synergies between the two institutions in these five areas and also in agronomy and soil science, since CAU is a leading agricultural university specializing in maize and conservation agriculture.

Lumpkin also met Dr Zhai Huqu and Tang Huajun, President and Vice president, respectively, of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, and Ma Xinglin, DDG of the International Collaboration Department from the Ministry of Science and Technology, and discussed the possibility of establishing a regional center for CIMMYT in China. To advance this ambitious plan for a strong CIMMYT-China partnership, Lumpkin is planning a follow-up visit for early 2009.