The Viking in the Wheat Field a book about seed banks, plant genetic resources and world hunger

The Viking In The Wheat Field will draw you into the
fascinating politics of international agriculture including:

• 

  Bent Skovmand and
  the proactive seed bank

   

  Bent Skovmand (1945-2007), a brilliant Danish wheat and triticale breeder, was a world renowned expert on plant genetic resources. At CIMMYT, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre in Mexico, he built the world’s greatest wheat collection. Scientists use its genetic material to develop better wheat varieties, then return samples of their new seeds, making them available to other breeders who in turn add new improvements. Read how this amazing cycle of international cooperation protects our food supply in The Viking in the Wheat Field. Photo: CIMMYT

• 

  Plant genetic resources

   

  Some 1400 gene banks in the world — more than 20 in the USA – preserve the seeds and other vital plant genetic resources of every major crop. Scientists need plant genetic resources to protect crops against diseases and drought and flood caused by global warming. Bent Skovmand said that any threat to the seeds was a threat to humanity. So when hurricanes blow out the electricity or marauding robbers trash the collections or short-sighted governments reduce funding for the gene banks, we’re all in big trouble.

• 

  Ug99 a new race of
  wheat stem rust

   

  Stem rust is a fungus disease that hitches on the winds, blowing across international boundaries. Pox-like sores erupt on the stems. They emit clouds of reddish spores. Soon all the plants are dead. The newest race of stem rust is called Ug99 because it was discovered in Uganda in 1999. It has invaded Iran; it is moving toward India and China. Eighty per cent of American wheat is susceptible. Learn how scientists use collections like the CIMMYT seed bank to breed wheat that will resist Ug99. Photo: CIMMYT

• 

  The legacy of
  Norman Bourlaug

   

  Norman Borlaug (1914-2009), winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, was Bent Skovmand’s mentor and lifelong friend. In The Viking in the Wheat Field, learn how Borlaug and his team combined genes from short strong Japanese wheat with tall, fertilizer-loving Mexican wheat to create varieties that saved a billion people from starvation in India and Pakistan. Scientists Borlaug trained, including Bent Skovmand, fanned out across the globe and worked all their lives to fight world hunger and guarantee the future availability of food. Photo: CIMMYT

• 

  The Doomsday Vault
  in Norway

   

  In the Doomsday Vault in Norway, buried under tons of ice and rock, guarded by ferocious polar bears, the world’s crop seeds are buried for safe-keeping. In case war or global warming destroys agriculture, these seeds could allow what remains of humanity to start farming once again. Learn the agricultural history and fascinating politics behind the Vault’s creation and how it is run today by NordGen and the Global Crop Diversity Trust, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Photo: Skovmand Family

• 

  Great stories!

   

  Skovmand’s wife, Eugenia – pictured here with a polar bear statue near the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (aka Doomsday Vault)– often joined him on his travels. In The Viking in the Wheat Field, read how the Skovmands found acres of opium hidden in the innocent-looking Turkish grain. How a planting mistake in Russia caused economic catastrophe in America’s Farm Belt. How Iran saved its wheat from Saddam Hussein by sending it to California. How exposure to the horrors of poverty made Skovmand a lifelong supporter of free global exchange of plant genetic resources. Photo: Skovmand Family

In the Viking you will learn about the bewildering bureaucracies and huge
corporations dominating crop research; the dedicated plant scientists
trying to fight world hunger and secure the future availability of food.
Read an excerpt now.


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