Grand missions of agricultural innovation

This paper discusses three related examples of mission-oriented agricultural institutional innovations associated with substantial crop yield increases in the 20th century. It begins with the implementation of the United States Land-Grant System and then discusses in turn the planning and implementation of the two grand missions that led successively to the yield increases in wheat and rice that heralded the onset of the “Green Revolution.” It notes the remarkable role of the Rockefeller Foundation in identifying these two missions, and selecting personnel developed within the land-grant system to execute them with remarkable effectiveness.

► I review three successful grand missions of agricultural innovation. ► The Rockefeller Foundation innovated the institutions that became CIMMYT and IRRI. ► These institutions were built on personnel with experience in the US land-grant institutions.