maizdulce

Maize ears and seed of the Mexican landrace known as «Maíz Dulce», from the state of Chihuahua. It is a type of sweet corn, with wrinkled, yellow kernels.

CIMMYT’s maize germplasm bank contains about 28,000 unique samples of cultivated maize and its wild relatives, teosinte and Tripsacum. These include about 26,000 samples of maize landraces—traditional, locally-adapted varieties that are rich in diversity. Many have been developed over millennia by farmers in Mexico, the crop’s center of origin. The bank both conserves this diversity and makes it available as a resource for breeding.

Photo credit: CIMMYT.