The International Maize Improvement Consortium for Asia (IMIC-Asia) is a public-private partnership formed by CIMMYT to develop and share improved maize varieties for targeted impacts in Asia.
Established in 2010, IMIC-Asia has developed and distributed thousands of improved inbred lines developed by CIMMYT to members for use in new inbred line development or in heterotic hybrid combinations of the partners. Molecular breeding is one of the key strategies used to enhance genetic gains and accelerate the pace of product development, helping researchers understand the genetics of complex traits, like heat stress and waterlogging tolerance.
IMIC-Asia’s activities also include training on maize breeding, phenotyping for abiotic stresses, statistical and genomic analysis data management imparted through this consortium, and evaluation of pre-release hybrid combinations of partners.
Consortium members also benefit from a strong collaborative testing network for identifying best-bet pre-release products, which now serves as a precursor for such products to be further evaluated at the national or state level as a part of the varietal release process.
