China/CIMMYT Collaboration on wheat breeding and germplasm exchange: results of 10 years of shuttle breeding (1984-1994)

Abstract

Maintaining a fruitful working relationship with a country such as China is indispensible for CIMMYT, whose mandate is to improve the productivity and sustainability of wheat and maize production systems all over the developing world. Particularly relevant is that the area sown to wheat and the amount of wheat produced in China are the largest in the world. CIMMYT would be remiss if it did not contribute to food production in the most populous country on earth. Aware of the mutually beneficial relations that could be set up with China, CIMMYT began working with that country in the mid 1970s; in the mid 1980s we established an informal shuttle breeding and germplasm exchange program. In 1997, CIMMYT and China formalized their collaboration on wheat and maize research by establishing a liaison office in Beijing. In July 1995, at the end of 10 years of ChinajCIMMYT collaboration, a conference was held in Beijing to highlight our mutually beneficial partnership. Participants in the event analyzed the relevance of the outcomes of this collaboration and targeted problems brought to light by it. This publication documents the papers presented at that conference. It is our hope that the results contained here will be a useful source of information for researchers interested in wheat production in China.