ABSTRACT
A strategic plan can help the maize program focus its resources on the most critical research and development priorities. Policy makers who set out to modernize their maize economies by choosing optimum research investments have to confront a wide range of issues and resolve many difficult questions. An intricate matrix of research organizations—public and private, national and international—is engaged in maize research of relevance to Third World production conditions. International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center and International Institute for Tropical Agriculture view publicly funded national maize research programs as their primary clients. The smaller companies will continue to rely on public maize research programs and the international centers. Strategic planning in research and development institutions has been widely written about elsewhere, but a few guidelines can be given. A maize research program needs to develop a mission statement that summarizes the work it will do and describes, in general terms, how its program will function.
