Wheat Landraces Currently Grown in Turkey: Distribution, Diversity, and Use

Abstract

From 2009 to 2014 a nationwide effort was made to document, collect, conserve, and characterize wheat landraces grown by Turkish farmers. Spike samples were collected from more than 1600 farmers from 59 provinces, planted as single‐spike progenies, and classified into species, subspecies, and botanical varieties (or morphotypes). Altogether, 95 morphotypes were identified representing three species and six subspecies: einkorn wheat (Triticum monococcum L.), emmer wheat [T. turgidum subsp. dicoccon (Schrank) Thell.], cone wheat (T. turgidum subsp. turgidum), durum wheat [T. turgidum subsp. durum (Desf.) Husn.], bread wheat (T. aestivum L. subsp. aestivum), and club wheat [T. aestivum subsp. compactum (Host) Mackey]. Compared with a nationwide survey in 1920, these findings represent a loss of 50 to 70% of the diversity found in 1920, though in four provinces, little if any loss occurred. Based on the Shannon diversity index (H′) and number of morphotypes, the highest diversity for bread wheat was observed in Manisa, Konya, Iğdır, Diyarbakır, and Tokat provinces and for durum wheat in Adana, Diyarbakır, and Hatay provinces. Socioeconomic data indicated that landrace farmers are found mostly in remote mountainous subsistence communities with very little grain trade, small areas planted to wheat, and relatively simple production technologies. The key reasons famers continue to grow landraces are their grain qualities and adaptation to abiotic stresses. In situ conservation should be targeted at provinces with the highest morphotype diversity, with the rarest landraces, and with the highest share of farmers growing landraces.

Diversity of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L., Fabaceae) landraces in parts of southern and eastern Ethiopia

“…31 To conserve landrace diversity, it is important to identify the areas with the highest genetic diversity and the areas with the greatest danger of losing rare genetic variants. 32,33 The morpho types of different common bean landraces represent units of diversity and a higher number of botanical varieties translate into higher diversity. 33 In southern and eastern Ethiopia, it is difficult to estimate the area of common bean landrace plantings; because the majority of the landraces were planted with other crops (intercropped) and some others were planted mixed with different landraces.…”

GGE biplot analysis of reactions of bread wheat pure lines selected from central anatolian landraces of Turkey to leaf rust disease (Puccinia triticina) in multiple location-years

“…Wheat is also a major staple in today`s Turkey, as wheat products contribute to meeting daily calorie needs of Turkish people (Akçura and Kökten 2017). Landraces are still being cultivated in confined production sites generally without any chemical fertilizer and pesticide applications (Morgounov et al 2016). The genetic bases in wheat breeding programs implemented for various purposes have narrowed because of similarities in selection criteria and selection priorities.…”

Mining Centuries Old In situ Conserved Turkish Wheat Landraces for Grain Yield and Stripe Rust Resistance Genes

“…IWWIP used the taxonomic (species) and botanical (morphotype) description approaches which were used by previous collectors in Turkey during 1920s and 1930s based on highly inherited spike traits: presence or absence of awns and their color; color and pubescence of spike glumes, spike density, and grain color (Zuev et al, 2013). In total, four species and 89 botanical varieties were collected during inventory (Morgounov et al, 2016). Like many other species in cradle areas of crop domestication, the phenotypic diversity of these wheat landraces is large and the source of endless treasure to breeders.…”