Americas
CIMMYT has several offices in the Americas, including global headquarters in Mexico and a regional office in Colombia. Activities are supported by an additional 140 hectares of stations in diverse agro-ecological zones of Mexico. CIMMYT’s genebank in Mexico stores 27,000 maize and 170,000 wheat seed collections – key to preserving the crop genetic diversity of the region. CIMMYT projects range from developing nutritionally enhanced maize to mapping regional climate change hot spots in Central America. The comprehensive MasAgro project aims to increase wheat production in Mexico by 9 million tons and maize production by 350,000 tons by 2030. CIMMYT promotes regional collaboration and facilitates capacity building for scientists, researchers and technicians.
Cornell University appoints Bram Govaerts as Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large
Capacity development
This distinction acknowledges work that has had great international impact in the sciences and other fields.
New association formed to support smallholder native maize farmers in Mexico
Capacity development
ProMaíz Nativo will promote small-scale landrace maize farmers through certification and fair market access.
Cobs & Spikes podcast: Women in wheat science
Gender equality, youth and social inclusion
Wheat physiologist Carolina Rivera shares what it is like to be a woman in agricultural science working on one of the world’s biggest problems — how to feed a growing planet.
Experimental stations in Mexico improve global agriculture
Capacity development
CIMMYT’s five agricultural research stations in Mexico are instrumental for researchers’ work to develop innovative crops and sustainable farming systems worldwide.
Call for Nominees for the 2019 Maize Youth Innovators Awards – Latin America
Gender equality, youth and social inclusion
Open to young women and men under 35 who are implementing innovations in Latin American maize-based agri-food systems.
Honoring the life and legacy of Fred Palmer
Capacity development
Palmer made key contributions in applied science to fight hunger and improve livelihoods in the 20th Century.
Bird’s-eye view
Innovations
Multispectral and thermal images taken by cameras on unmanned aerial vehicles are helping researchers to monitor the resistance of maize to tar spot complex and other foliar diseases.
Top shelf: Who has access to the healthiest processed foods?
Nutrition, health and food security
As processed food products gain popularity in Mexico City, researchers are keen to understand variation in access to healthier maize- and wheat-based foods across differences in purchasing power.
Scaling farming innovations: what, why and how
Capacity development
A group from Chiapas gets frameworks and tools to make innovations sustainable.
Mexico’s heirloom corn is dying out–but this designer has a plan to stop it
Innovations
Source: Fast Company (7 Jun 2019)
Designer Fernando Laposse collaborated with CIMMYT to find seeds and resuscitate six species of native Mexican corn.
Sustainable tradition
Nutrition, health and food security
Transition to sustainable farming using concepts from ancestral food production systems leads to healthier soils and diets in Mexico.
Biofortified maize and wheat can improve diets and health, new study shows
Nutrition, health and food security
New varieties deliver essential micronutrients to those who lack diverse diets.
Breaking Ground: Mechanization expert Jelle Van Loon goes as far as creativity allows
Innovations
CIMMYT’s mechanization team is in a quest to build the perfect machine for each farmer.
Tracing maize landraces, 50 years later
Environmental health and biodiversity
Scientists track down the families in Morelos, Mexico, who donated maize landraces to CIMMYT in 1966-67. Would they still be cultivating them?