Collecting plant genetic resources in the eastern Carpathian Mountains within the territory of Ukraine in 2005

摘要

The recent status of on-farm genetic resources in the Ukrainian part of the Carpathian Mountains has not been as well documented as for the other countries into which the Carpathians stretch. Continuing socio-economic changes in the Ukraine may put the existing on-farm diversity of crop plants at high risk of extinction. This paper summarizes the germplasm findings made in the, Ukrainian Carpathians during a joint Ukrainian/Canadian collecting mission, and describes the status of on-farm diversity inthe region as found in September 2005. In total, 275 germplasm samples of various crop groups were collected, including pulses (158 samples), cereals (24), oilseeds (16), vegetables (13), herbs and spices (28), fruit trees or shrubs (2), grasses (5) andforage legumes (29). At least 70% of the collected germplasm represented endemic landraces, 18% were collected from the wild and 11% were probably cultivars developed in the 20th century. Endemic landraces of Phaseolus vulgaris L. and P. coccineus L. comprised more than 52% of the collected plant material. Compared with the reports from earlier collecting missions in the region and in neighbouring countries, the diversity of species found in cultivation was narrow, and endemic landraces of cereals andperennial vegetables may no longer exist in the region. The prospects for on-farm conservation of the diversity in the region are not very promising, and ex situ preservation in genebanks may currently be the most efficient way to preserve the endemic landraces of the region.