Abstract |
In this Report, readers will find considerable evidence of change in CIMMYT, beyond that reflected in the bricks and mortar of our new Genetic Resources Center. For example, we highlight several initiatives involving our recently created Natural Resources Group (NRG). The NRG was fonned specifically to target natural resource issues. The Group uses a variety of networking approaches to solve problems, and features a strong in-house capacity for geographic information systems research. The NRG mission is to develop efficient research methods, conduct strategic research on processes and prototypes, and, most important, to backstop CIMMYT researchers and their partners in developing countries as they address productivity and sustainability issues. In so doing, the NRG helps answer key questions having to do with increasing maize and wheat yields in environmentally safe ways, using maize and wheat technologies to help slow or reverse resource degradation, and measuring the long-term impacts of technical change. |