REDISCOVERED SEEDS

In the early 20th century, the Russian geneticist Nikolaj Vavilov

travelled halfway round the world and studied methods to produce

new varieties of plants which would yield more and be adapted to the

different climates in the Soviet Union. In a veritable on-the-road story

which goes back over some of the stages of Vavilov’s journey, Marco

Boscolo and Elisabetta Tola introduce us to the ‘guardians’ of

agricultural biodiversity who have learned his lesson: researchers,

farmers and new artisans who are innovating farming by recovering

local varieties and seeds that risk disappearing, replaced by industrial

products that are the same all over the world but not very adapted to

meeting the effects of climate change. There is no trace of nostalgia in

this journey, but a new idea of innovation fuelled by a global network

– Senegal, Ethiopia, Iran, Indonesia, France, United States and Italy –

which is offering models of production and different supply chains to

guarantee, following in Vavilov’s footsteps, that despite the climate

upheavals that we will have to face, nobody must suffer hunger.