ABSTRACT
Maize is the most thoroughly researched of all the cereals, and the one in which the greatest productivity advances have been achieved. The groundwork for modern genetic improvement of maize and other crops was laid by Charles Darwin in his writings on the variation of species and by Mendel through his discovery of the laws of inheritance. The institutional foundations for modern maize research were laid in the United States during latter half of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century. The success of the hybrid maize revolution in the United States in the late 1930s and early 1940s provoked considerable interest among farmers and agricultural scientists in other countries. However, most developing countries had little capacity to carry out maize improvement research. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center maize improvement priorities include higher yield potential combined with greater yield dependability. Maize agronomy and crop management research are frequently the responsibility of other research departments and programs.
