The Viking in the Wheat Field: A Scientist's Struggle to Preserve the World's Harvest
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.58 (818 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0802717403 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2017-03-09 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Norman Borlaug, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for launching the green revolution. Skovmand went on to direct Nordgen, which manages the so-called Doomsday Vault, where crop seeds are banked in case of a catastrophe. From Booklist The visionary Danish plant scientist and pioneering seed banker Bent Skovmand found his calling at the University of Minnesota, following in the footsteps of Dr. Dworkin vividly portrays Skovmand and a remarkable group of similarly ardent plant protectors; crisply relates little-known yet compelling, frequently dicey tales of
The Fragile Food Supply and Sir Bent Martin Fealk Most of us think of the Irish potato famine as a plague of a bygone era, or as a result just of horrid and treacherous 19th century British imperial policy. Yet the biological element, a plant disease, looms closer than we might think.Susan Dworkin's The Viking in The Wheat Field tells the story of a small core of dedicated plant scientists who breed and preserve grain seeds adapted to resist crop-devastating disease, to thrive in hostile growing conditions and to increase bounty to levels only dreamt of before the . Rated for content - excellent for kindle version - ehhhh This is a fascinating and well written book, but the kindle version has so many typos that reading it can sometimes become a chore as the reader has to break stride to figure out what things like "Rock ef eller" means. Proper names are repeatedly hyphenated and then in different places. Rockefeller is one example; another is Damania which comes up Da-mania, Dama-nia, Damani-a. There are seemingly hundreds of acronyms and I quickly lost comprehension of them. One random page makes use of CIMMYT, IRRI, CG, ICARDA.The . Food for thought Lucky Boy Often it is not the politicians or the heads of governments who control the destiny of millions. Scientists work diligently in a corner without any fanfare or brouhaha. And more often than not, they make a big difference to the quality of life of the resource depleted nations. The Viking in the Wheat Field is a story of one such individual to tried hard to make a difference and nearly succeeded. The book is a must read for all wheat scientists and plant explorers and gives useful information about the environment in
By telling the story of Skovmand's work and that of his colleagues, The Viking in the Wheat Field sheds a welcome light on an agricultural sector"plant genetic resources"on which we are all crucially dependent.. I n an era when corporations and governments often jealously guarded breeding information, Skovmand fought to keep his seed bank a center for free, open scientific exchange. For three decades, Skovmand amassed, multiplied, and documented thousands of wheat varieties. He served as an advisor on wheat genetic resources to dozens of countries, and hunted for seeds that would contain the genes to protect the harvest from plagues like UG99 and the stresses created by global warming. The largest collection was at the Center for Im
Her fascination with agriculture dates from early stints at the United States Department of Agriculture and as a journalist covering aid programs in the Middle East. She lives in New York City.. Susan Dworkin has written several biographies, including The Nazi Officer's Wife, and her articles have appeared in Ms., Cosmo