Over 2 billion people worldwide lack access to sufficient and nutritious food. The situation is greatly exacerbated by expanding populations, the climate crisis, intensifying disease threats, and growing global instability. While addressing this situation is hugely complex and multifaceted, new more resilient and productive crops and varieties are an essential part of the solution.
As brilliantly explained in this captivating book, a highly committed group of researchers worldwide are harnessing the latest scientific and technological advances to boost and stabilise food production. 'Super Seeders' not only illuminates the science behind these pivotal innovations but also celebrates the dedicated individuals involved.
For specialists, The Super Seeders offers a valuable synthesis across disciplines that too rarely speak to one another. For general readers, it makes urgent and complex science human and accessible without sacrificing rigour. In an era when the work of plant scientists rarely makes headlines, Hillmann gives it the attention, and the audience, it deserves.
This is a book for anyone who eats. And for everyone who wants to understand how the world might continue to do so.
Miles Hillmann, in his book, The Super-Seeders, looks back at the history, but also looks to the future, of the plant genetics revolution. The role of the plant geneticist has not diminished over the years. Indeed, it is more important than ever.
The book clearly resonates with CIMMYT's mission. The seven pillars described - from gene banks and the Green Revolution through to genomics, gene editing, and market-led seed systems - map closely onto the work our scientists have dedicated their careers to.
The challenges described - population growth, climate stress, and the fragility of global
food systems - are ones we live with daily. It is important that this story reaches a wider
audience.
The book speaks to an audience that rarely hears this story told with such clarity and urgency.
