F u l t u r p f l a n z e XXX �9 1982 �9 S. 181--190 [

Collection of land-races of cultivated plants in South Italy 1981'

I~IETRO PERRINO 2, KARL HAMMER a n d CHRISTIAN O. LEHMANN

(Eingegangen am 11. Januar 1982)

S u m m a r y

In continuation of two collecting missions in 1980 a further mission has been carried out to South Italy jointly by staff members of the Ist i tuto del Germo- plasma, Bali, and the Zentralinstitut ffir Genetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung, Gatersleben, in August /September 1981 to s tudy and to collect indigenous forms of cultivated plants and their wild relatives. 188 seed samples, especially of cereals were collected (table). Remarkable findings are relic crops as Einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and Emmer (T. dicoccon) and old, often very variable land-races of cereals, especially rye, grain legumes and vegetables. In Sicily samples were col- lected from the Secale montanum-population on the slopes of Mt. Etna. Though there can be observed heavy gene erosion in some regions and for some crops many variable land-races are still conserved in the collecting area. A continuation of the collections in adjacent areas is recommendable.

Introduction

111 1981 the collection in South I t a ly - in previous year begun with two missions- was continued jointly by staff members of the Ist i tuto del Germoplasma in Bari and the Zentralinstitut fiir Genetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung in Gatersleben within the frame of the agreement between the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricer- che (C.N.R.) of I taly and the Academy of Sciences of the GDR. The last year's explorations had shown that South I taly is rich in variable indigenous material of cultivated plants, especially cereals, grain legumes, vegetable and fruit crops and related wild species (PERRINO et al. 1981a and b). Though there had been done intensive collecting in the past years (cf. PERRINO and MARTIGNANO 1973, POR- CEI~DIJ 1979, BOGYO et al. 1980) the mountainous regions provide good niches for the preservation of land-races. They can be only explored step by step over several years. But also in these regions with predominating types of extensive agri- culture heavy gene erosion can be found especially in field crops whereas in garden crops this process is not yet evident. Therefore the activities of this mission were concentrated on cereals and grain legumes.

The mission has been again organized by the Bari institute, participants were

1 Herrn Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. H. STUBBE AUS AnlaB der 80. Wiederkehr seines Ge- burtstages gewidmet.

2 Istituto del Germoplasma, Via G. Anlendola 165/A, 1-70 126 Bari, Italy.

182 P. PERRINO, K, HAMMER and CHR. O. LEHMANN

# 1 I I

l , m

g i o I

|

I ! I \

N Z

8

Fig. 1 Route of the collecting mission

Land-races collection in South I ta ly 1981 183

Dr. P . PERRINO, Bar i , a n d f r o m G a t e r s l e b e n Dr . K . HAIvIMER a n d Dr . CHR. O. LEHMANN.

T h e f ie ld w o r k w a s d o n e f r o m A u g u s t 22 na to A u g u s t st 31 in p a r t s of t h e p r o - v inces C a m p a n i a , Mol ise a n d B a s i l i c a t a (fig. 1). I n a s p e c i a l e x p l o r a t i o n to S i c i l y f r o m S e p t e m b e r 4 th to S e p t e m b e r 8 th Secale montanum w a s c o l l e c t e d a t t h e s lopes of Mr. E t n a . T h e d e t a i l e d i t i n e r a r i e s a r e : S o u t h I t a l y 2 2 . 8 . B a r i - F o g g i a - L u c e r a - S a n M a r c o in V a l f o r t o r e - C a m p o b a s s o (Regg io

Molise) ; c o l l e c t i n g n o r t h - w e s t of S a n Marco 2 3 . 8 . C a m p o b a s s o - V i n c h i a t u r o - S e p i n o - Colle M a r r a c h e - Sep ino - P i e t r a r o -

j a - C u s a n o M u t r y ; c o l l e c t i n g w e s t of S e p i n o a n d n o r t h - e a s t of C u s a n o M u t r y 2 4 . 8 . C u s a n o M u t r y - Ce r r e to S a n n i t a - F a i c c h i o - P i e d i m o n t e M a t e s e -

S. G r e g o r i o M a t e s e - L a g o d i M a t e s e - L e t i n o ; c o l l e c t i n g n e a r Cusano M u - t r y , F a i c c h i o , S. G r e g o r i o M a t e s e a n d n e a r t h e L a g o M a t e s e

2 5 . 8 . L e t i n o - Ga l lo - F o n t e g r e c a a n d b a c k to L e t i n o ; c o l l e c t i n g n e a r F o n t e g r e c a a n d in t h e s u r r o u n d i n g s of Ga l lo

26, 8. L e t i n o - Ga l lo - r e g i o n b e t w e e n Ga l lo a n d C a p r i a t o - b a c k to Ga l lo - V a l l e - l u n g a - M o n t e r o d u n i - V e n a f r o - P r e s e n z a n o - V a i r a n o Sca lo - C a p u a ; c o l l e c t i n g m a i n l y n e a r V a l l e l u n g a , M o n t e r o d u n i a n d P r e s e n z a n o

2 7 . 8 . C a p u a - C a s e r t a - C e r v e n a r a - S a n M a r t i n o - M e r c o g l i a n o - C a p o Ca- s t e l lo - To re l l i - A v e l l i n o - V o l t u r a r a I r p i n a - M o n t e m a r a n o - M o n t e l l a ; c o l l e c t i n g n e a r M e r c o g l i a n o , V o l t u r a r a I r p i n a a n d M o n t e m a r a n o

2 8 . 8 . M o n t e l l a - B a g n i o l i I r p i n o - L i o n i - C o n z a C. a n d b a c k to L i o n i - T e o r a - S. A n d r e a - P e s c o p a g a n o - C a s t e l g r a n d e - Muro L u c a n o ; c o l l e c t i n g in M o n t e l l a , B a g n i o l i , b e t w e e n B a g n i o l i a n d L ion i , in C o n z a a n d T e o r a

2 9 . 8 . Muro L u c a n o - C a s t e l g r a n d e - P e s c o p a g a n o - Ca l i t r i - R a p o n e - P e s c o - p a g a n o - C a s t e l g r a n d e - Muro L u c a n o ; c o l l e c t i n g n o r t h of C a s t e l g r a n d e , in C a s t e l g r a n d e a n d R a p o n e M u r o L u c a n o - L a v i a n o - C o n t u r s i - P o l l a - S. R u f o - Cor le to M o n f o r t e - R o s c i g n o - R o c c a d ~ s p i d e ; co l l e c t i ng m a i n l y n e a r L a v i a n o a n d in Cor le to M. R o c c a d ~ s p i d e - P a e s t u m - B a t t i p a g l i a - S a l e r n o - A v e l l i n o a n d on t h e h i g h w a y b a c k to B a r i ; c o l l e c t i n g in t h e s u r r o u n d i n g s of R o c c a d ~ s p i d e

3 0 . 8 .

3 1 . 8 .

S ic i ly 4 . 9 .

5 . 9 .

6 . 9 .

7 .9 .

8 . 9 .

B a r i - P o l i c o r o - V i l l a p i a n a - C a s t r o v i l l a r e - R e g g i o d i C a l a b r i a - Mes- s i na - F u r c i S icu lo F u r c i S icu lo - C a t a n i a , d i s c u s s i o n s in t h e A g r i c u l t u r a l F a c u l t y w i t h P ro f . L. LONGO a n d P ro f . F . DAMIGELLA a n d in t h e B o t a n i c a l I n s t i t u t e w i t h P ro f . F . FtlRNARI a b o u t l a n d - r a c e s a n d t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of Secale montanum a r o u n d Mt. E t n a , - E t n a (Refug io S a p i e n z a ) ; c o l l e c t i ng on t h e s o u t h s lopes of Mt . E t n a R i f u g i o S a p i e n z a - E t n a (ca. 3000 m NN) - b a c k t o R i f u g i o S a p i e n z a - R a g a l n a - P a t e r n o - B i a n c a v i l l a - A d r a n o - B r o n t e - M e l e t t o - R a n d a z z o ; c o l l e c t i n g m a i n l y on t h e s o u t h s l opes of Mt . E t n a R a n d a z z o - P a s s o p i s c i a r o - L i n g u a g l o s s a - P i a n o p r o v e n z a - R i f u g i o Civ i - t e l l i - L i n g u a g l o s s a ; c o l l e c t i n g on t h e n o r t h a n d ea s t s lopes of Mt . E t n a L i n g u a g l o s s a - M e s s i n a - a n d b a c k to B a r i (cf. S e p t e m b e r 4 th)

184 P. PERRINO, K. HA1MlVIER a n d CHR. O. LEHMANN

R e s u l t s

The results of this mission prove the former s t a t emen t (cf. PERRINO et al. 1981b} tha t a cont inuat ion of collecting missions in South I t a ly should be v e ry effective and urgent . Especial ly in the moun ta inous par ts m a n y variable land-races are still cu l t iva ted whereas in the lower par t s heavy gene erosion can be observed. Bu t also in the lowlands there is somet imes a great var iabi l i ty present especially among the vegetables as in the region a round Napoli. This area should be explored b y a special mission in la te a u t u m n when the vegetable seeds are easily available. Most of the farmers of this area do not have seeds in s tock longer t h an f rom harves t to sowing season.

The collections comprise 188 accessions about half of t hem are of cereals and thei r wild relatives. There is also a v e r y variable spec t rum of large seeded legumes and vegetable crops. A detai led list of the collected mater ia l follows:

Crop Number of Sum accessions

Maize, Zea mays Soft wheat, Triticum aestivum Hard wheat, Triticum, durum ]Emmer wheat, Triticum dicoccon Rye, Secale cereale Oats, Arena sativa Barley, Hordeum vulgare Wild grasses, Aegilops spp.,

Secale montanum

24 23

7 2

Ii 10

4 15

Cereals

French Beans, Phaseolus vulgaris Chick Pea, Cicer arietinum Faba ]3eans, Vicia faba Vetchling, Lath-vrus sativus Common Vetch, Vicia sativa Peas, Pisum sativum White Lupin, Lupinus albus Lentils, Lens culinaris

23 8 9 3 1 2 2 i

Legumes

Cabbage, Brassica spp. Lettuce, Lactuca sativa Tomato, L ycopersicon esculentum ]3eet, Beta vulgaris Chicory, Cichorium int),bus Onion, Garlic, A llium spp. Cucumber, Cucumis sativus Celery, A p i u m graveolens ]3asilic, Ocimum basilicum Radish, Raphanus sativus Red Pepper, Capsicum annuum

10 7 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1

96

49

Land-races collection in South Italy 1981

Table (Cont.)

Crop Number of Sum accessions

Potato, Solarium tuberosum 1 Cucurbits, Cucurbita spp. 2 Coriander, Coriaczdrum sativum 1 Parsley, Petroselinum crispum 1

Vegetables incl. some oil- and medicinal-plants 43

Total Sum 188

185

Fig. 2 Predominating types of extensive agriculture in the Volturno valley near Venafro (Campania)

The samples have been divided so that both of the gene banks have identical sets of the collected material. In addition some samples of wild species have been collected for special purposes for the Bari and Gatersleben gene banks.

Many of the seed samples consist of morphologically different lines or even of admixtures of other crop species. They will be separated before multiplication and increase the original number of collected strains considerably. Especially in the seeds of Faba Beans there was a marked variability whereas the French Beans which used to be very variable in other regions are rather uniform in shape and coIour.

Some remarkable provisional observations will be summarized: - N e a r Teora (farmer: ALFONSO CICCONE, Conza della Campania) and Rapone

(farmer: CHRISTIANO VOTI) recent cultivation of T r i t i c u m dicoccon could be found. The samples included also grains of T. monococcum. These wheats were

186 P. PERRINO, K. HAMMER and CHR. O. LEHMANN

Fig. 3 Mixed cult ivation of maize, chickpeas, cucurbits and other crops in a little farm outside Sepino (Campania)

Fig. 4 Collecting Emmer wheat in South Campania near Teora (Avellino)

Land-races collection in South Italy 1981 187

thought to have been lost already some decades ago. There are now two new places known-together with the re-discoveries in northern parts of Campania (PERRINO et al. 1981b, PERRINO and HAMMER 1982)--where these wheats are still cultivated.

- Several T. aestivum and T. durum land-races and old varieties could be still collected in mountaineous parts of Campania and Basilicata. They are very fast displaced by new varieties.

- Different samples of rye could be found for the first time at the present ex- plorations. The rye is used as a fodder crop and sometimes for a special kind of bread (fig. 5).

Fig. 5 A special kind of bred prepared from rye in the Matese area (Campania)

- - Several samples of Secale montanum, the putative ancestor of S. cereale (SENCER and HAWI~ES 1980) have been collected from the slopes of lVlt. E tna (fig. 6). On the south slope this wild cereal is spread up to about 2200 m NN beeing there one of the pioneer species on young lava soils. On the eastern slopes samples were collected up to about 1700 m NN on open spots among forests. The population goes down to about 900 m NN around the Mt. Etna massive. Few samples of cultivated rye could be collected from farmers who have their fields on the foot of the Mr. Etna. Though the recent areas of wild and culti- vated rye do not any more coincide the material should be studied for intro- gressions. They could have occurred in former times when rye was also culti- vated at higher levels.

-- Again very early ripening types of maize have been collected which also show a remarkable variability (cf. PERRINO et al. 1981b). One of the earliest is called 'Quarantana' meaning that it ripes within 40 days from the begin of growing. An important reason for the maize land-races cultivation in South I ta ly is the favoured use of their grains for polenta. Therefore, traders pay for it a premium. The quality characters of land-races are often responsable for their conservation (cf. HAMMER et al. 1981).

188 P. PERRINO, K. HAMMER and CHR. O. LEHMANN-

Fig. 6 Secale mon-- r at 2000 m on the south slope of Mr. Etna. The plants are protect- ed by the spiny Astragalus siculus from grazing ani- mals

- As already stated (cf. PERRINO et al. 1981b) Vicia .[aba was again the most variable grain legume showing sometimes populations with small- and large- seeded types, different colour variants etc.

-Da rk -co lou red seed variants of Cicer arietinum and blue-flowered types of Lathyrus sativus occured only as very rare admixtures in light seeded or light flowered races of these crops. In former times the dark-coloured variants formed uniform land-races all over the collecting area.

- Seeds could be collected from Brassica oleracea races which belong to the pr imi- t ive leaf kales (fig. 7). They are very frequently grown in the gardens of Cen- tral Campania. The leaves are consumed by man or fed to the animals.

Land-races collection in South Italy 1981 189

Fig. 7 Primitive leaf kale in a garden of Bag- noli Irpina (Campania), in the background let- tuce grown for individual seed production

The collected material will be multiplicated, maintained and evaluated in Bari and Gatersleben in the following years according to the methods practised by these gene banks.

Zusammenfassung

Sammlung yon Kulturpflanzen-Landsorten in Sfiditalien 1981

In Fortffihrung zweier Sammelreisen im Jahre 1980 wurde im August/September 1981 eine weitere Reise nach Sfiditalien gemeinsam von Mitarbeitern des Ist i tuto del Germoplasma, Bari, und des Zentralinstituts ffir Genetik und Kulturpflanzen- forschung, Gatersleben, unternommen, die dem Studium und der Sammlung indigener Formen von Kulturpflanzen und ihrer verwandten Wildformen diente. 188 Proben, besonders von Getreide, wurden gesammelt (Tab.). Bemerkenswerte Funde sind Reliktkulturen wie Einkorn (Triticum monococcum) und Emmer (T. dicoccon) sowie alte, oft sehr variable Landsorten von Getreiden, 'besonders Roggen, K6rnerleguminosen und Gemfisen. Auf Sizilien wurden Proben der Secale montanum-Population auf den HAngen des Atna gesammelt. Obwohl die Generosion in einigen Gebieten und fiir einige Kulturen betrAchtlich ist, haben sich noch viele variable Landsorten im Sammelgebiet erhalten. Eine Fortffihrung der Sammlungen in benachbarten Gebieten ist empfehlenswert.

190 P. PERRINO, K. HAMMER and CI~R. O. LEHMANI~

I~paTz;oe co~ep~aHHe I

C6opm MeCTH~IX coprOB ~ y J ~ T y p n ~ x pacTeHm~l B IOH~HOI~ H T a ~ ]3 1981 r.

IiaK npo~oameH~e AByX 3Iccneamm~ 1980 rosa , B aBrycTe -- CeHTH6pe 1981 r. 5~r~a

npe;anp~HaTa emii o~ma CoBMeCTHaH n o e a ; ~ a B ]Oh'~HyIO HTaJmm COTpy;aHH~aM~I

HHCT~WyTa 8apo~l, rmeBoi~ naasM~I B BapM ~ I~enTpa~,~oro I~HCT~TyTa reHeTm~H ~t

~yJI~Typ~mx pacTeH~/i V Favepcae6ex~e, B u e a ~ x HCCJIe~OBaH~ ~ c60poB MeCTHI~IX"

r ~ y a ~ v y p H ~ x p a c w e ~ i t ~ ~x c o p o a ~ e ~ . Bmao c06paHo 188 o6paa~o~, r a a B H ~ t

o5paaoM aepHom~Ix aJm~os (cM. ~a6~Ig~y). HHTepecno OTMeT~Wl, peJmn~ov~Ie I~ya],-

~yp~i, I~a~ OaHoaepHaHna (Tr i t i cum monococcum) it aMMep (T . dicoccon), a Ta~me

cTap~xe, ~acTo o~em, HaMeH~B~Ie Mec~m~e CopTa 3epnoB~,lX aaa~os , ~ Oc06eHHOCT~

pomP, aepHo~IX 5050B~X ~ oBOmH~IX. Ha CHm~m~n y~laaoc~ c05paT~ o6paau~r Secale mon tanum Ha CI~IOHaX ~)Tnm. XOTa reHHaa a p o ~ m a HeI~owop~x pai~oHax

~HH He~oTopI~IX ~yJ~Typ o~a~aaac], BecbMa 8HaqHTeJIBH01~, MHOFHe H3MeHqHBhle MeCT-

H~e copra B 05cae~IOBaHH~IX o6aacT~X, BC~ me em~ coxpamlJmc~,. PeHOMeH~IyeTc~

npo~oameH~e c6opon B coce~n~x o5~iacT~x.

Literature

BOGYO, T. P., E. POECEDDU and P. PERRINO, 1980: Analysis of sampling strategies for collecting genetic material. -- Econ. Bot. 34, 160--174.

HAMMER, K., M. G6ESKI, P. HANELT, F. Kt~HN, •V. KULPA and J. SCHULTZE-MOTEL, 1981 : Variabil i ty of wheat land-races from Czechoslovakia and Poland. - Kulturpflanze 29, 91-97.

PERRINO, P., and K. HAMMER, 1982: Triticum monococcum L. and T. dicoccon SCHRANK (syn. : T. dicoccum SCHOBLER) still cul t ivated in Italy. Presence, collecting and actions. -- Genetica Agraria, in print.

--, K. HAMMER and P. HA~ELT, 1981a: Collecting in Southern I taly. -- P lan t Genetic Re- sources -- Newsletter 4b, 24.

- , -- and --, 1981b: Repor t of travels to South I t a ly 1980 for the collection of indigenous material of cul t ivated plants. -- Kulturpflanze 29, 433-442.

- - a n d F. MARTIG~ANO, 1973: The presence and distribution of old wheat variet ies in SicilY. -- Ecologia Agraria 9, 1--11.

PORCEDDU, E., 1979 : Wheat collecting in the Mediterranean region. In : ZEVEN, A. C., and A. M. VAN HARTEN (eds.), Broadening the genetic base of crops, p. 75-82. -- Pudoc, V~Tageningen.

SgNCER, H. A., and J. G. HAWKES, 1980: On the origin of cul t ivated rye. - Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 13, 299-313.

Dr. CHR. O. LEHMANN and Dr. K. HAMMER Zentral inst i tut fiir Genetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung D D R - 4325 Gatersleben CorrensstraBe 3