Title
Wheat genetic resources enhancement by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)
Date Issued
01 November 2008
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
review
Author(s)
Braun H.J.
Crossa J.
Crouch J.H.
Davenport G.
Dixon J.
Dreisigacker S.
Duveiller E.
He Z.
Huerta J.
Joshi A.K.
Kishii M.
Kosina P.
Manes Y.
Mezzalama M.
Morgounov A.
Murakami J.
Nicol J.
Ortiz Ferrara G.
Ortiz-Monasterio J.I.
Payne T.S.
Peña R.J.
Reynolds M.P.
Sayre K.D.
Sharma R.C.
Singh R.P.
Wang J.
Warburton M.
Wu H.
Iwanaga M.
Royal Agricultural University
Abstract
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) acts as a catalyst and leader in a global maize and wheat innovation network that serves the poor in the developing world. Drawing on strong science and effective partnerships, CIMMYT researchers create, share, and use knowledge and technology to increase food security, improve the productivity and profitability of farming systems and sustain natural resources. This people-centered mission does not ignore the fact that CIMMYT's unique niche is as a genetic resources enhancement center for the developing world, as shown by this review article focusing on wheat. CIMMYT's value proposition resides therefore in its use of crop genetic diversity: conserving it, studying it, adding value to it, and sharing it in enhanced form with clients worldwide. The main undertakings include: long-term safe conservation of world heritage of both crop resources for future generations, in line with formal agreements under the 2004 International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, understanding the rich genetic diversity of two of the most important staples worldwide, exploiting the untapped value of crop genetic resources through discovery of specific, strategically-important traits required for current and future generations of target beneficiaries, and development of strategic germplasm through innovative genetic enhancement. Finally, the Center needs to ensure that its main products reach end-users and improve their livelihoods. In this regard, CIMMYT is the main international, public source of wheat seed-embedded technology to reduce vulnerability and alleviate poverty, helping farmers move from subsistence to income-generating production systems. Beyond a focus on higher grain yields and value-added germplasm, CIMMYT plays an "integrative" role in crop and natural resource management research, promoting the efficient use of water and other inputs, lower production costs, better management of biotic stresses, and enhanced system diversity and resilience. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
Start page
1095
End page
1140
Volume
55
Issue
7
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Agricultura
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-53749100537
Source
Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution
ISSN of the container
09259864
Sponsor(s)
Association analysis Advanced research institutes Biological nitrification inhibition Center for Arid Zone Studies-Natural Resources Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo Canopy temperature depression Central and West Asia and Northern Africa Deoxynivalenol Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Facultative and Winter Wheat Observation Nursery Fusarium head blight Fondo Regional de Tecnología Agropecuaria Granule-bound starch synthase Genotype-by-environment Indian Council of Agricultural Research International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture International Wheat Improvement Network Mega-environments International Winter Improvement Program Linkage disequilibrium Marker-assisted selection Modified pedigree/bulk method National Agricultural Research Systems Near-infrared spectroscopy Nivalenol Office of Special Studies Oregon State University Polymerase chain reaction
The history of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) involvement in wheat improvement begins in the 1940s, more than 20 years before it was officially founded as an international organization in 1966 (Ortiz et al. 2007b). Its roots reach back to the Office of Special Studies (OSS), a research project sponsored by the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation that was dedicated to improving maize, beans and wheat, and later potatoes. The OSS began as a research and training program focused on Mexico, but soon began collaborating with other countries, especially in South America. The OSS developed the key organizational principles that would eventually become central to the entire network of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centers. The OSS wheat program, led by Nobel Peace Laureate Norman E. Borlaug, did crop
Acknowledgement The authors thank Ms. Allison Gillies (CIMMYT, Mexico) for editing an early version of this manuscript. We acknowledge the kind support of the CGIAR members for wheat improvement at CIMMYT through unrestricted funding and other resources brought by special project grants in recent years from Australia, Belgium, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada, China, Denmark, European Commission, FAO, FONTAGRO, Generation Challenge Program, Germany, HarvestPlus, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Republic of Korea, Rockefeller Foundation, Sasakawa Africa Association, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States of America and the World Bank, as well as the in-kind contributions of national partners elsewhere.
For many decades the global average yield of wheat has increased, supported by an effective International Wheat Improvement Network (IWIN), an alliance of National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS), CIMMYT, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and advanced research institutes (ARI). This alliance has deployed cutting-edge science alongside practical multi-disciplinary applications resulting in the development of germplasm, which has improved food security and the livelihoods of farmers in developing countries. For example, during the late 1950s and 1960s, researchers in Mexico, under the leadership of Borlaug, developed the improved spring wheat germplasm, which launched the Green Revolution in India, Pakistan, and Turkey (Reynolds and Borlaug 2006).
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