ABSTRACT
The cooperative program between the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture and the Rockefeller Foundation has been hailed as an exemplary case of collaborative effort in agricultural research. The two crops that received major attention from the very beginning were corn and wheat—two of Mexico's basic food crops. This chapter is concerned with the introduction of improved technology and yield per unit area. The plant scientists who initiated the cooperative corn and wheat improvement programs in 1943 were dealing with crops that had been grown in Mexico for a long time. The Mexican government set up an emergency plan in 1954 to stimulate corn production in the Bajio, and this was expanded into a national extension program in 1955. Today the best farmers are getting 8 ton/ha on acreages of 50 hectares and over.
