Replenishment and rationalization of seed collections of pumpkin, vegetable marrow and summer squash for ex situ conservation and use for breeding in Armenia

Abstract

The conservation and sustainable use of crop genetic resources are crucial for food security and economic development, and diverse genetic resources are a critical input in the agricultural production process. To conserve the gene pool of vegetable crops of Armenia, the Scientific Centre of Vegetable and Industrial Crops of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia carried out activities to upgrade storage facilities and optimize the existing seed collections. Newly created long-term and medium-term seed collections of pumpkin, vegetable marrow and summer squash reliably conserve genetic resources of these crops and create a base for undertaking genetic enhancement and base-broadening efforts. A database and application of barcodes and QR-code labels facilitate the search of required accessions, making the stored genetic materials more accessible for users and promoting their wider use in breeding.

Governing crop genetics in post-Soviet countries: lessons from the biodiversity hotspot Armenia

“…While there are country reports on the state of PGRFA, including crop wild relatives (CWRs) in Armenia, these are few and most are fairly old (Gabrielian and Zohary 2004;Avagyan 2007; Republic of Armenia Ministry of Agriculture 2008; Avagyan 2014). To the best of our knowledge, there are no published peer-reviewed journal articles related specifically to the management of PGRFA in Armenia, although case studies on the management of specific varieties exist (e.g.…”

“…About one-third of the farmers do not cultivate their land, whereas 15% cultivate leased land (Millns 2013). More than 150,000 ha of arable land and 50% of pastureland are unused, and valuable plants of pastures and grasslands suffer from this, while aggressive weeds severely affect 33% (approximately 150,000 ha) of arable lands, which further threatens cultivated fields (Avagyan 2014).…”

“…Over approximately the last 70 years, and increasingly over the past 25-30 years, there has been a significant loss of crop genetic diversity in this global biodiversity hotspot, along with land degradation such as soil erosion, secondary salinisation and degradation of natural ecosystems (Avagyan 2014;World Bank 2012). The rapid replacement of traditional varieties by hybrids and modern varieties has resulted in genetic erosion.…”

Morphological Characteristics of Selected Fruit Parts and Naked Seeds of Cucurbita pepo var. styriaca

“…Styrian oil pumpkin has become the object of study in many countries of the world. In general, research focuses on the morphological characteristics of characters on fruits and flowers, chemical composition, antioxidant activity (Brindza et al, 2011(Brindza et al, , 2014Muntean et al, 2012;Oleárová et al, 2013), conservation of genetic resources (Mendel et al, 2019;Avagyan et al, 2020) and other possibilities of practical use. Pumpkin also produces a lot of pollen, which can be collected by bees in the form of bee pollens (Chlebo et al, 2017).…”