Abstract
Genetic erosion of landraces is increasing worldwide, however there are still regions rich in landrace biodiversity, such as islands and mountainous isolated areas. Defining the reasons of landrace abandonment in these areas, as well as collecting and preserving landraces, is of outmost importance. In this context, the Agricultural University of Athens organized missions in 53 villages of Arcadia, a prefecture rich in floral biodiversity and variable climatic conditions and topography. The aim was to collect samples of the on-farm (in-situ) conserved annual crop landraces and record the location of perennial crop local varieties. Since traditional knowledge and practices have been playing a vital role in the survival of landraces and local varieties, information was obtained through personal interviews with locals using semi-structured questionnaires. Even though the number of accessions collected from Arcadia has been reduced (141 samples) compared to previous collections and genetic erosion is advancing dramatically for cereals and pulses, a significant number of landraces is still cultivated by the locals. The reasons of landrace abandonment were other sources of occupation than agriculture, such as public service jobs, mechanization, and commercialization of agriculture. Gastronomic and agro-tourism along with European Union trademarks and policies can support locals in landrace/local varieties in-situ conservation.
Highlights
There are many references on the importance of landraces for their direct traditional use by humans and their value as genetic resources
Cereals and legumes were the dominant group of species in the German collection, contrary to vegetables which was the largest group in our collection. This is in accordance with certain interviews where it was stated that Arcadians cultivated more vegetables after the World War II since they could irrigate their gardens
The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Kulturpflanzenforschung (KWIK) expedition in Peloponnese was more fruitful in comparison to KWIK missions in other locations such as Crete, where a very small number of vegetables was collected (11 samples) in comparison to Peloponnese (130 samples), as well as in Yugoslavia and Albania during the same period [24]
Summary
There are many references on the importance of landraces (known as local varieties, farmers’ varieties, or conservation varieties) for their direct traditional use by humans and their value as genetic resources. Since cultivars often lack alleles that contribute to tolerance or resistance to biotic and abiotic stress factors, breeders use plant genetic resources (landraces and crop wild relatives) for the improvement of varieties [6]. As mentioned by Azzez [2], even though landraces are generally less productive than commercial (bred/improved) cultivars, in recent years they have become important sources of genetic variability in search for genes for tolerance or resistance to biotic and abiotic stress factors and other traits. Crop mechanization and improved high yielding cultivars have led farmers towards the abandonment of the traditional cropping practices, landrace cultivation, and on-farm conservation [3,8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
