Changes in Plant Genetic Resources in the Southeast Region of Poland from the 1980s to 2023

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

This paper presents data from sixteen collecting missions conducted over three decades (2000–2023) in the Lubelskie Voivodeship, located in Southeastern Poland. During these missions, 756 samples of functional plants were collected, along with accompanying species such as weeds, crop wild relatives, ornamental plants, spice plants, and grafts of fruit trees. These materials were compared with those collected during six expeditions in two earlier decades (1980–1999), which resulted in the collection of 665 genotypes. The samples were primarily obtained from local farmers or gathered directly from fields. This study aims to summarise and compare the results of the collecting missions across decades. The analysis indicates that the Lubelskie region remains a place where old varieties of annual vegetable plants, rare weed species (on a national scale), crop wild relatives, and old varieties of fruit trees can still be found. However, old cereal varieties have nearly disappeared. The collected materials were characterised and stored as a base collection under long-term storage conditions at the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute—National Research Institute. Vegetable plant materials were deposited in the active collection at the National Institute of Horticultural Research (INHORT). Fruit tree collections were also deposited at INHORT, as well as in the Botanical Garden of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poland.