CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 4/16/2018

A fascinating read for anyone interested in biodiversity: 'Mario Del Curto: Seeds of the Earth'

Between 1916 and 1940, Soviet botanist Nikolai Vavilov traveled the world, collecting plant specimens. In 1923, he became the director of the Pan-Russian Research Institute for Plant Production, building the world's first seed bank in a former tsarist palace in current-day St. Petersburg. (Later, he would be condemned to death and left to starve in prison.) Today, the Vavilov Institute hosts more than 350,000 specimens, and includes twelve additional research stations. Featured photograph, by Mario Del Curto, is of herbarium specimens of 'Aegilops ovata' collected by Vavilov in Spain. It is reproduced from Del Curto's fascinating new photography collection, Seeds of the Earth: The Vavilov Institute, exquisitely produced by Actes Sud. This is a fascinating read for anyone interested in biodiversity and those who, despite overwhelming obstacles, perpetuate Vavilov's seed prospecting, selection and conservation work in order to save the planet's staple food crops.