The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has inaugurated a new $25 million research complex that will help researchers speed up climate-resilient seed development for maize and wheat.
13 February 2013: The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has inaugurated a new $25 million research complex that will help researchers speed up climate-resilient seed development for maize and wheat.
The $25 million research center is located outside Mexico City, Mexico, and will focus on developing varieties with greater heat and drought tolerance, disease and pest resistance, seed health and nutritional quality. At the center’s opening, CIMMYT Director General Thomas Lumpkin noted CIMMYT’s efforts to promote modern sustainable agriculture backed by information and communication technologies (ICT) that will ultimately help open access to crop genetic diversity.
The new CIMMYT building was constructed based on investments by the Carlos Slim Foundation. Bill Gates, of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Carlos Slim were among the invited participants at the opening of the new research facility.
CIMMYT is supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). [CIMMYT Press Release]