Notes on a mission to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 1985 for the collection of land-races of cultivated plants

Abstract

A collecting mission was carried out in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea jointly by staff members of the Institute for Experimental Biology, Pyongyang, and the Zentralinstitut fur Genetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung, Gatersleben, in November 1985 for studying and collecting indigenous forms of cultivated plants. 127 samples, mainly of grain legumes, vegetables and medicinal plants were collected. The material represents highly variable old land-races; this is especially true for french beans, soya beans, other grain legumes and some vegetables. Genetic erosion is rather advanced for maize, rice, wheat, radish and the brassicas. Genetic resources of these crops can be expected in more marginal areas. The results of the mission stress the necessity for continuing the explorations.