Why bother with Bere? An investigation into the drivers behind the cultivation of a landrace barley

Abstract

Why would the farmers in a developed, Western country, dominated by an industrialised agriculture, choose to grow a traditional crop variety? This study aimed to explore this question through an investigation of the reasons why a traditional landrace barley -known as Berewas still grown in the Scottish islands of Orkney and Shetland. Cultivated barley is one of the oldest and most widely grown cereals in the world and plays a significant role in global food security. However, since the beginning of the 20th century the genetic diversity in cultivated barley has been in decline as traditional varieties are replaced with modern cultivars. Traditional varieties, such as landraces, are an important genetic resource, and there is a growing interest in their in situ conservation, both in Europe and internationally. The success of such activities would benefit from a proper understanding of the factors that drive farmers' motivations to maintain barley landraces on their farms and this study intended to fill the knowledge gap that existed in this regard in a European context. Interviews were conducted with Bere growers and representatives of the food manufacturing industry on the islands to discover why they valued this crop. This was complemented by insights from agricultural calendars, preference ranking tasks and photographic data. Thematic analysis of the data yielded four broad drivers of Bere cultivation: market demand, cultural and traditional values, adaptation to conditions, and use as a low-input crop. Preference ranking of these drivers showed their perceived relative importance and the variations in such perceptions between Orkney and Shetland. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for devising more effective in situ conservation strategies for barley landraces in Europe and further afield.

Identifying potential novel resistance to the foliar disease ‘Scald’ (Rhynchosporium commune) in a population of Scottish Bere barley landrace (Hordeum vulgare L.)

“…This difference in reported and observed susceptibility could be due to differences within the Bere population. Later interviews with farmers by Mahon et al (2016) suggest that Bere are more resistant to other foliar diseases, in particular rhynchosporium. This supports the suggestion that Bere barley is a prime source for resistance to rhynchosporium.…”

“…This study investigates inherent resistance to rhynchosporium in Bere lines, as suggested by anecdotal evidence (Mahon et al 2016). Identifying individual lines that have high resistance along with associated genomic regions and candidate genes in these regions.…”

New Value to Wool: Innovative Garments for Preservation of Sheep Landraces in Italy

“…Important components of agrobiodiversity are landraces, i.e., local varieties of domesticated plant and animal species that have adapted to the natural and cultural local environment. Over the centuries landraces, based on traditional systems of production, ensured food and forage, minimized the production risk, stabilized yields [ 1 ], and favored low levels of technology and inputs [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Nowadays, landraces contribute to preserve social, cultural, health, recreational and identity values of community, so as to ensure wellbeing [ 6 ].…”

Factors influencing the production of oilseed crops among smallholder farmers in Limpopo Province

“…Numerous studies suggest farmers' personal factors such as the farmers' ages (Negatu et al, 2016), household types (Chen et al, 2006), the family dependency ratio (Low, 1986) could all determine farmers' planting choices. Economic factors like the age-composition of the labor force (Greig, 2009), the agricultural income ratio (Arunrat et al, 2017), the characteristics of the market economy where farmers are willing to grow crops that have a predictable market price and are easy to sell (Jaffe, 1989;Haile et al, 2014;Wu et al, 2015;Mahon et al, 2016). Katundu et al (2014) showed that, in Tanzania, the lower input costs involved in the production of groundnut was the main driving force behind groundnut becoming the third most important crop.…”