SciDev.Net

The International Maize and Wheat improvement Centre (CIMMYT) promotes research on wheat and maize to increase food security in developing countries.

In this article, Masaru Iwanaga, CIMMYT's director-general, discusses the importance of pushing research on the two cereals further, and of setting up appropriate regulatory frameworks for genetically modified wheat and maize crops.

Iwanaga describes the technological challenges that agricultural researchers face, the role the private sector plays in bringing improved crops to poor farmers, and how to overcome the public controversy surrounding genetically modified crops. On this last point, he says biosafety regulations that are the same across national borders are of key importance.

Link to the full IFPRI Forum article