The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (commonly called by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT for Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo) is a non-profit research and training institution dedicated to both the development of improved varieties of wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

 and maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

, and introducing improved agricultural practices to farmers, thereby improving their livelihoods. It is also one of the 15 non-profit, research and training institutions affiliated with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research

The CGIAR is a strategic alliance that unites organizations involved in agricultural research for sustainable development with the donors that fund such work. These donors include governments of developing and industrialized countries, foundations and international and regional organizations...

 (CGIAR).

Origins

The first steps toward the creation of CIMMYT were taken in 1943 when cooperative efforts of the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation led to the founding of the Office of Special Studies, an organization within the Mexican Secretariat of Agriculture. The office’s goal was to ensure food security in Mexico and abroad through selective plant breeding and crop improvement.

The project developed into a collaboration between Mexican and international researchers. It established global networks to test experimental crop varieties. One of its researchers, Norman Borlaug

Norman Borlaug

Norman Ernest Borlaug was an American agronomist, humanitarian, and Nobel laureate who has been called "the father of the Green Revolution". Borlaug was one of only six people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal...

, developed shorter wheat varieties that put more energy into grain production and responded better to fertilizer than older varieties. The program was renamed and morphed into CIMMYT in 1963, though it was still under the Secretariat of Agriculture’s jurisdiction. As international demand grew and it became apparent CIMMYT required internal organization and increased funding, the center was reorganized and established as a non-profit scientific and educational institution in its own right in 1966.

In the early 1970s, a small cadre of development organizations, national sponsors, and private foundations organized CGIAR to further spread the impact of agricultural research to more nations. CIMMYT became one of the first international research centers to be supported through the CGIAR. Today, the CGIAR comprises 15 such centers, all dedicated to sustainable food security through scientific research.

Activities

CIMMYT focuses on 1) the conservation and utilization of maize and wheat genetic resources, 2) developing and promoting improved maize and wheat varieties, 3) testing and sharing sustainable farming systems, 4) analyzing the impact of its work and researching ways for further improvement.
CIMMYT partners with national agriculture research institutions across the globe. Though its headquarters are in Mexico, the center supports 13 regional offices (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nepal, Turkey, and Zimbabwe).

Global Wheat Program and Global Maize Program

The core of CIMMYT is its two main programs: the Global Wheat Program and the Global Maize Program. Both programs specialize in breeding varieties of their respective crop that are high yielding and adapted to withstand specific environmental constraints, such as infertile soils, drought, insects, and diseases. Center scientists use both traditional cross-breeding as well as modern high-technology methods such as molecular markers to develop new varieties. Additional efforts focus on a variety of agricultural aspects such as proper seed storage, natural resource management, value chains, the benefits of using improved seed, and appropriate machine use and access.

Conservation Agriculture Program

CIMMYT’s Conservation Agriculture Program studies and supports sustainable cropping practices. The idea behind this program is that in the long run, intensive farming can damage the soil and hurt farmers’ livelihoods and food productivity. On-going test trials conducted by this program since the 1990s have shown that conservation agriculture practices seem to perform better than conventional practices. The Conservation Agriculture Program defines conservation agriculture

Conservation agriculture

Conservation agriculture [CA] can be defined by a statement given by the as “a concept for resource-saving agricultural crop production that strives to achieve acceptable profits together with high and sustained production levels while concurrently conserving the environment” .Agriculture...

 as a farming system that reduces soil disturbance (less tillage), incorporates suitable crop rotations, and retains crop residues as a soil cover.

Socioeconomics Program

The Socioeconomics Program used to belong to the former Impacts Targeting and Assessment Unit, which was dissolved in 2009 to form the Conservation Agriculture Program and the Socioeconomics Program. The mission of this program is to evaluate the center’s work and to increase its positive global impacts. Areas of focus include public policy, efficient use of resources, monitoring of global maize and wheat trends, and the understanding of economic, political and institutional environments in which CIMMYT operates.

Genetic Resources Program

The Genetic Resources and Enhancement Unit (GREU) is support unit that holds the maize and wheat collections of CIMMYT in trust for humanity under UN-FAO agreements. The program works on genetic traits that are identified as priorities by the eco-regional programs, such as drought tolerance. GREU units include the Crop research informatics lab (CRIL), the Germplasm bank, the Applied biotechnology center, the Seed inspection and distribution unit, and the Seed health lab.

Crop Research Informatics Lab (CRIL)
Germplasm Bank
Applied Biotechnology Center (ABC)
Seed Inspection and Distribution Unit
Seed Health Lab

Partners and donors

Main donors include the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

, the Rockefeller Foundation

Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...

, the European Commission

European Commission

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

and the national governments of the United States, Switzerland, Japan and Mexico.