The Viking in the Wheat Field: A Scientist's Struggle to Preserve the World's Harvest

by Susan Dworkin

The gripping story of how Bent Skovmand and others preserved the world's wheat harvest.

In 1999, a terrifying new form of stem rust―spotted in Uganda and dubbed "UG99"―quickly turned robust golden fields into dark, tangled ruins. For decades plant scientists had bred wheat varieties with rust-resistant genes, but these genes did not work against UG99. Unchecked, UG99 could spread all over the world, including the United States. Breeders everywhere began searching wheat germplasm collections for sources of resistance. The largest collection was at the Center for Improvement of Maize and Wheat (CIMMYT ) in Mexico, developed by the brilliant Danish scientist Bent Skovmand. 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. 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. 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.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Agriculture, History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Susan Dworkin is an unlimited author. She writes books for everyone.

ARE YOU A TRUE HISTORY BUFF? Susan co-wrote the New York Times Best Seller, THE NAZI OFFICER'S WIFE, with Edith Hahn Beer, the woman who lived this amazing story of love, terror and courage in Hitler's Germany.

ARE YOU A SCIENCE FICTION FAN? Susan's thrill-filled novel, THE COMMONS, is set 150 years in the future, When an ancient plague threatens to destroy the wheat crop, a revolutionary coalition of farmers, scientists and courageous young rock stars must save the world from starvation.

ARE YOU A MOVIE ADDICT? Consider MAKING TOOTSIE, the up-close investigation which Susan wrote when she was the only journalist allowed on the set of the classic gender-bending comedy featuring Dustin Hoffman.

AT MS. MAGAZINE, Dworkin was a contributing editor for more than ten years, interviewing such celebrities as Meryl Streep, Danny Glover, Carol Burnett, and Whoopi Goldberg. She is also a leading AUDIOBOOK PRODUCER, publishing terrific voice versions of authors like Isaac Bashevis Singer, Edna Ferber, Cynthia Ozick and I.L. Peretz.

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A SPEAKER? Susan is a delightful and much sought-after lecturer who has cracked up audiences from the Library of Congress to the Crop Science Society. You can hear samples of her speeches -- and find out everything else about her -- by going to her website: www.SusanDworkin.com.

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“If the seeds disappear, so could your food.…So could you.” These are the words of Bent Skovmand who headed the wheat germ bank at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico and fought to keep seeds free and open to breeders and farmers around the world. Dworkin’s well-written biography also introduces readers to the world of genetic crop manipulation – with genes from other strains of the crops and from unrelated organisms – and efforts, both non-profit and for-profit, to produce plants that are sturdier, yields that are more abundant, and crops resistant to ever-changing plant plagues. Surprisingly interesting and sobering.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew a story about Plant Pathology and Seed Banks could be so interesting? I picked this book up because it was on display at the Plant Pathology Library at the U of M, the cover looked cool, and it was about U of M graduates. I finished it because it was fascinating to read about these scientists efforts to bread wheat that would grow in different climates and be resistant to various parasites and plagues. It really touched me that Skovmand's main goal throughout his life as a breeder of wheat was to end hunger.

[Felicity Fields · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up on a whim from the library bookshelf, and I'm so glad I did. I've never thought about global bio diversity and only paid marginal attention to the GMO debate. This book opened my eyes to the history of crop-breeding - wheat, in particular - and how we came to be where we are today. Great writing that was easy to understand and kept me engaged until the end.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book is about an interesting topic which I don't know much about, namely how scientists worked to preserve crops and increase yields to feed the world's ever growing population. Dworkin tries to make this interesting by seeing it through the lens of Bent Skovmmand, a Danish scientist who worked at CIMMYT (International Center for the Improvement of Maize and Wheat) with some Indiana Jones-like tendencies and a tireless devotion to making sure that people will have the grains they need to feed their families for generations to come. At some point, even this loses a bit of its luster, though. It's actively frustrating when, probably like the scientists it depicts, the book yada-yadas the very important tension between organizations like CIMMYT, corporations, and the idea that native peoples should own the genetic diversity found within their lands. Dworkin depicts the scientists as above such petty concerns, and when you think about Borlaug possibly saving a billion lives through his work collecting crops from all over the world and cross-breeding them, perhaps these are petty concerns. They certainly deserve more mention than they get in this hagiography, though.

[MikeFromQueens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting how the extreme complications and lengthy process of wheat germ management and genetic modifications are carried out in the field and not the lab. At time, the author states politically minded perspectives, but it was a only an occasional distraction.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a slow read simply cause I'm busy reading too much fiction right now. When I finished it I felt glad that I had. It was very interesting but I think I enjoyed Lee's version as he told me about it than the actual reading of it.

[Karin Lippert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent background on the need to save our original seeds of life as the battle against GMOs heats up.

[Archie · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is not usually my cup of tea, I did appreciate the hard work these scientists are putting forth to make sure we have a stable food supply for years/centuries to come...

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent book for its topic but the topic of wheat just isn't too terribly interesting.

Nonetheless, I kept reading. The fact that it had U of M alumni helped keep an interest.

[Jolene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, Fantastic, Fantastic!!