Prof. Dr. Ismail Cakmak elected to CIMMYT Board of
Trustees
Prof. Dr Ismail Cakmak, member of the Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences of Sabanci University, was elected to CIMMYT Board of Trustees for 3 years beginning on 1st of February 2005. CIMMYT (International Maize and
Wheat
Improvement
Center), located in
Mexico, has breeding programs and offices in 15 countries, and its annual budget is nearly 40 million USD. Wheat varieties bred at CIMMYT greatly contributed to the Green Revolution, and this contribution was recognized through the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. CIMMYT also developed more nutritious maize varieties and this output was recognized through the 2000 World Food Prize. Wheat varieties developed by CIMMYT are planted on more than 64 million hectares in developing countries, representing more than 75% of the area planted to modern wheat varieties in those countries. In
Turkey, nearly half of the summer wheat cultivated is originated from the CIMMYT- breeding programs. The main sponsors of CIMMYT are World Bank, the
USA,
Switzerland, the European Commission, the Rockefeller Foundation and
Japan.
