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The headquarters of International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center
(CIMMYT) is situated in Mexico. An internationally
funded, non-profit scientific research and training organization, CIMMYT has been providing improved
germplasm and training to the wheat and maize research scientists of different countries
particularly the developing countries of the world for a long time.
One of 16 agricultural research centers, CIMMYT is supported by
the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) of the United
Nations. From it's headquarters in Mexico and its offices in Asia,
Africa, and Latin America, the researchers engage in a worldwide research program for
developing countries. This program focuses on improving the productivity and profitability
of maize, wheat, triticale, and barley cultivation and also on developing ways and means
to sustain production of these crops. In
fact, CIMMYT is maintaining and improving the yield of these crops over a long period of
time without harming natural resources.
CIMMYT researchers are
also dedicated to working with partners in developing countries to strengthen national
cereal research programs and facilitate diffusion of new crop technologies. One such
country is Bangladesh, which has maintained a long, productive research partnership with
CIMMYT. CIMMYT works side by side with researchers from Bangladesh to conduct research and
offer support services that are valuable to Bangladesh and to many of the other countries
with which CIMMYT works. By working directly with CIMMYT scientists in Bangladesh and in
similar areas sharing special factors, such as climatic conditions or a particular disease
spectrum, CIMMYT does best to ensure that our research will provide useful, successful
technology and information to the farmers who need it.
The
South Asian regional office of CIMMYT is in Nepal, but to facilitate research activities
in other countries of the region, CIMMYT has set up offices in Bangladesh and as well as
in India to bring about a revolutionary improvement in production of maize and wheat in
these countries. With this aim in view, CIMMYT signed
a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Bangladesh Agricultural
Research Council (BARC) in 1982 and setup an office in Dhaka. Although CIMMYT started its
joint research activities with Bangladesh in 1973, but its collaboration with the wheat
scientists dates back to the Pakistan period.
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