Genetic resources of cultivated and volunteer vegetables in Serbia

Abstract

Number of plant species and populations in the diet and agriculture, and knowledge about them, their cultivation and use, represent the biological, cultural and social heritage of the humankind. Due to favourable geographic, soil, and climate conditions, and large diversity of flora in Serbia, there is a rich tradition of vegetable use in the diet, cultivated and volunteer, autochthonous. More than 70 botanical vegetable species that are accepted for long-term preservation are mentioned nowadays in Serbia. Besides that, some plant species that are classified as industrial, medicinal and aromatic plants are being used as vegetables. Vegetables include legumes used as stewing vegetables. Serbia has three vegetable regions: lowlands (along the rivers Danube, Tisa and Sava), Moravian (along three Morava Rivers and their tributaries) and mountainous (Eastern, South-eastern and Western areas, Kosovo and Metohija). In these regions, genetic resources of vegetables should be looked for in cultivated and volunteering flora of different domestic and domesticated populations developed due to adaptation to the specific abiotic and biotic factors, including breeders' selection. International and national projects have been organised in the field of preserving genetic resources of vegetables in the past, as well as nowadays in Serbia. Collected samples are stored in Plant Gene Bank of Serbia and in gene banks all over the world. Significant part is located in the collections of national institutes and faculties. Samples are described with passport data, while those in collections even in more detail. However, none of this is sufficient. In the last decades in Serbia, many populations and vegetable species have threatened to disappear. Many villages are disappearing, there are few growers of vegetables, and extinction of numerous valuable genotypes is accelerated by unfavourable weather conditions. Large number of cultivars and vegetable species that were traditionally grown in our country was removed from the Serbian list of cultivars. Species and cultivars that have ceased to be cultivated on larger areas can still be found mostly in gardens. Collecting expedition of eventually remained genetic resources is insufficient; they are unsystematically organised and without clearly directed funding.

Brojnost vrsta i populacija biljaka u ishrani i poljoprivrednoj proizvodnji kao i znanje o načinu gajenja i upotrebi u ishrani čine biološko, kulturalno i sociološko nasleđe čovečanstva. Zahvaljujući povoljnim geografskim, zemljišnim, klimatskim uslovima i velikom diverzitetu biljnog sveta u Srbiji postoji bogata tradicija upotrebe povrća u ishrani, gajenog i samoniklog, autohtonog i donešenog u mnogobrojnim migracijama stanovništva i trgovačkim poslovima. Povrtarstvo se razvijalo u dolinama reka i u blizini velikih potrošačkih centara. U Srbiji se danas pominje preko 70 botaničkih vrsta povrća. Izdvajaju se tri važna povrtarska reona, Ravničarski (duž reka Dunava, Tise i Save), Moravski (uz tri Morave i njihove pritoke) i Brdsko-planinski (istočna, jugoistočna i zapadna područja, Kosovo i Metohija). U tim regionima, u gajenoj i spontanoj flori, treba tražiti i genetske resurse povrća, raznolike domaće i odomaćene populacije nastale zahvaljujući prilagođavanju specifičnim abiotičkim i biotičkim faktorima, uključujući tu i izbor uzgajivača. U Srbiji je organizovan rad, u prošlosti i danas, na projektima, međunarodnim i domaćim, sa ciljem očuvanja genetskih resursa povrća. Prikupljeni uzorci se čuvaju u Banci Biljnih Gena Srbije i u bankama gena širom sveta, a značajan deo u kolekcijama naših instituta. Uzorci su opisani na pasoškom nivou, a oni u kolekcijama instituta i detaljnije. Međutim sve to je nedovoljno. Poslednjih decenija u Srbiji mnogim populacijama i biljnim vrstama povrća preti opasnost da nestanu. Mnoga sela zamiru, retko ko održava seme za sopstvene potrebe, a nestanak mnogobrojnih vrednih genotipova još više ubrzavaju nepovoljni vremenski uslovi. Sa državne sortne liste Srbije skinut je zadnjih godina veliki broj sorti i vrsta povrća koje su se tradicionalno gajile kod nas. Najčešće u baštama, eventualno se još mogu naći, vrste i sorte koje su gotovo prestale da se gaje na većim površinama. Ekspedicija za prikupljanje eventualno preostalih genetskih resursa je nedovoljno, nesistematično su organizovane i bez jasno usmerenog finansiranja.