Recent progress in durum breeding in tunisia

摘要

Historically, Triticum turgidum subsp. durum was the only spices of the genus Triticum to be culticated in Tunisia, covering about 800,000 ha, 55percent of the area devoted to cereals. Selection was initiated as early as the beginning of this century, and local lines were derived by mass and pedigree selection. Derbassi, Adgini, Agili, Mekki, Hamira, Jenah Khoutifa were the dominant landraces. Chili and Mahmoudi 981 were selected. From crosses between local and Mediterranean landraces, D117, D77 and D522 were selected. By the 1950s, Inrat 69, Badri, and Maghrebi had been released. Through a collaborative project (1967) between Tunisia (INRAT), CIMMYT, and USAID, high-yielding varieties were released (Amel and Maghrebi) for the favorable areas, and later Ben Bachir, Karim and Razzak. In low rainfall areas, drought is the main limiting factor. Two agro-ecological zones were identified: (1) high yield potential disease resistance, and good quality are recommended for favorable areas (the variety Khiar was recommended; (2) stable yield with resistance to drought and terminal heat stress are required for the dry areas (the lines Omrabi 3 and Omrabi 5, received from ICARDA, were recommended).