In situ landraces: best practice evidence-based database
A tool for promoting landrace conservation

The landrace is very popular on the local market.

‘Borsi’ is recognized on local markets for its taste and special colour.

If there is any market for this landrace, at the moment is very small, it’s mainly grown for own consumption, by hobby gardeners. The landrace is best used for fresh consumption, the storability and processing experiments were giving poor results, therefore we suppose it’s mainly suitable for home production and for local farmers’ markets.

‘Cegléd’ is registered as conservation variety in the European Common Catalogue of Conservation Varieties following the Commission Directive 2008/62/CE of 20 June 2008.

Local income from this LR can be estimated around 250,000 €. Nowadays, the ‘Monteleone di Spoleto’ emmer has undergone a successful marketing strengthening thanks to some farmers’ initiatives. In October 2002 seven local farmers constituted themselves into the ‘Association of Monteleone di Spoleto Emmer’.

The landrace is included into the Regional Register of Landraces, implementing the Umbria Region Law concerning the protection of local genetic resources (n. 25, 2001).

The ‘Monteleone di Spoleto’ emmer also holds the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) label and represents a good example of successful use of territorial labels for the promotion of a product obtained from a landrace.

‘Gniff’ is still very much appreciated on the local market in the Malcantone region. Thanks to the cooperation between Coop and ProSpecieRara, ‘Gniff’ is in discussion for sales in bigger Coop Supermarktes throughout Switzerland. Furthermore, it can be found on farmers’ markets all over Switzerland.

During the European project DIVERSIFOOD, the Gniff carrot and deriving breeding lines were tested for their taste characteristics in collaboration with chefs. A rather rustic taste of low sweetness, with spicy, herbal, earthy flavors was attested to the line of the original Gniff. Due to the genetics from modern varieties, the newly developed breeding lines were rather sweet, but otherwise a bit shallow. Chefs therefore preferred the taste properties of the original Gniff. As such, taste breeding goals of the new lines were defined rather close to the original landrace.

Until the 1980s the ‘Küttiger Rüebli’ was mainly marketed locally in Küttigen and surroundings. With the beginning of commercialisation of seeds by Sativa Rheinau after 1999, the interest has grown at a national level, nowadays it can even be found in bigger Supermarkets throughout Switzerland. The landrace is primarily marketed as a raw product although it can sometimes be found pickled or dried the traditional way on farmers’ markets or in local shops. Local restaurants serve the pickled ‘Küttiger Rüebli’ together with a white sauce, black pudding and liver sausages or with apple slices.

In order to promote and maintain the ‘Küttiger Rüebli’ and other local carrot varieties on the local market and as traditional varieties, a commission established the ‘Aarauer Rüeblimärt’ (Aarauer carrot market) where the ‘Küttiger Rüebli’ still is sold by the Countrywomen’s Association Küttigen (Landfrauenverein Küttigen). The event takes place in Aarau every year on the first Wednesday of November. The ‘Küttiger Rüebli’ has been recognised as part of the ‘Culinary heritage of Switzerland’.

‘Laaer Zwiebel’ are sold directly and traded nationally and internationally.

‘Laaer Zwiebel’ is one product supported by GENUSS REGION ÖSTERREICH (The ‘Austrian Region of Enjoyment’) which is a protected brand of the AMA (Austrian Market Organisation and Paying Agency for Agriculture and Rural Development) and of the Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism. Its aim is to promote regional food products of Austria. A ‘Laaer Zwiebel’ festival takes place once a year in Laa/Thaya.

Its cultivation is in regression, maintained by very few farmers for family consumption. The ‘Sociedad Cooperativa Andaluza La Verde’ (Cooperative Society of Andalucía) of Villamartín keeps it on the farm and sells seeds and buds.

It is a very popular lettuce, especially for its flavour and texture.

In recent years the market of ‘Mascina di Montepulciano’ grown quickly both locally and nationally. The fresh fruits are characterised by a very short shelf-life that does not allow their distribution and commercialisation. Thus, fruit of this landrace are mainly processed to produce jams.

‘Mascina di Montepulciano’ has been recognized as ‘Prodotto Agroalimentare Tipico’ (PAT, litteraly Typical Food Product) by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry through the technical support of Regione Toscana. The PAT recognition is based on evidences that demonstrate the use of a landrace (or a processed foodstuff) in a certain area for at least 25 years.

This landrace has potential for new uses.

‘The bread–Broa dos Arcos–is included in the Slow Food Catalogue; the local and dynamic tourism activities, a fast-growing segment, allows a sustainable market.

The ‘Morada de Morella’ lettuce is marketed in fresh by growers in local markets. In this sense it can be difficult to find it in large supermarkets. Old growers often grown this variety for self-consumption. Recently, different research groups have carried out collection expeditions of this varietal type, as well as its characterization to determine the properties that can contribute to an enhancement of their crop and therefore its conservation 'on farm' (Figás et al., 2017)

The Universitat Politècnica de València has been extensively working during the last five years on the collection of traditional lettuce varieties and, more specifically, on the 'Morada de Morella' type. These works have been done in collaboration with the team of the Experimental Agrària de Carcaixent Station of the Generalitat Valenciana, led by D. Josep Roselló Oltra. Likewise, work is being done on the chemical characterization of this variety in order to determine which qualities can contribute to valorize this varietal type and therefore to enhance its conservation and cultivation.

Successful cooperation allowed the market of ‘Nostrano di Storo’ to grow exponentially. In particular, the establishment of the Agri 90 cooperative allowed the farmers to have the facility of processing the products and place them on the local and national market. ‘Nostrano si Storo’ is commercialised directly as flour or as ready-to-cook cornmeal mush. The market value is estimated around 2 million euros.

‘Nostrano di Storo’ is registered as conservation variety in the European Common Catalogue of Conservation Varieties following the Commission Directive 2008/62/CE of 20 June 2008.

Flour of ‘Olotillo Blanco’ is used to prepare some typical culinary preparations such as white Mexican tortillas. Its use is common in many areas of Mexico and ‒ thanks to the growing interest on traditional Mexican cuisine worldwide ‒ is also becoming important in other rich markets such as USA. However, due to lack of information, it is not possible to estimate the market value, especially of the material cultivated in the district of Vicente Guerrero (Ocozocoautala, Mexico).

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Currently, no local or national market exists as the production of ‘Pera cocomerina’ is carried out by few farmers/gardners, conserving from 1 to 6 individuals each. Currently, the production is used to produce jam and a typical pear liquor that are sold during the annual event ‘Sagra della Pera Cocomerina’.

In 2011, ‘Pera cocomerina’ (det. n° 16102 del 12/12/2011) was included into the regional register of landraces (Emilia Romagna Region, Italy) implementing the regional Law concerning the protection of local genetic resources (n. 1, January the 29^th, 2008).

The cultural association ‘Pro Loco Ville’ (http://www.peracocomerina.it/beta/2587-2/) is a local association of the district of Ville di Montecoronaro (Verghereto, Cesena, Italy) whose main aims is conservation and use of ‘Pera Cocomerina’. The association has been involved for decades in the valorisation, preservation and promotion of this landrace. Throughout the past decvades, Pro Loco Ville favoured conservation of the landrace and created an annual event named ‘Sagra della Pera Cocomerina’ (http://www.peracocomerina.it/beta/le-sagre/) to promote the product and its derivates.

The landrace also caught the interest of the Slow Food movement which included it among its ‘presidia’.

‘Rheintaler Ribelmais’ has been experiencing a renaissance over the last few years. Overall production in 2005 in the Reinthal region was 30 tonnes, part of which went to local restaurants, bakeries and breweries, while the other part was sold through retail businesses, both locally and nationally.

The designation ‘Rheintaler Ribelmais’, which represents an independent variety, has been protected since 2000 with the designation of origin ‘Rheintaler Ribelmais AOP’ (Appellation d’Origine Protégée) as the first cereal product of Switzerland. Numerous regional products are produced from the ‘Rheintaler Ribelmais AOP’. For example, the corn beer of the regional brewery Sonnenbräu marketed under the protected brand name Ribelgold. The ‘Rheintaler RIbelmais’ has been recognised as part of the ‘Culinary heritage of Switzerland’ (https://www.patrimoineculinaire.ch/Produkte?text=ribelmais&canton=&categorie=#285).

It is being less cultivated in the zone and those that do produced it, they do it for self-consumption.

This abandonment is due, on the one hand, to the progressive abandonment of vegetable gardens and agriculture for self-consumption and, on the other hand, due to the difficulties it presents for its commercialization. These are due to the fragility of the skin that does not make it suitable for the current forms of transport and the large size of the fruit that is not accepted by many consumers.

The local perception highlights its ability to reproduce the plant up to three consecutive years in the same place without the quality of the fruit being affected, as opposed to other varieties of the same species.

It has usually a juicy flesh with a soft texture, with a sweet flavour, and a low number of seeds that facilitates its consumption.

It is highly valued for its flavour, colour and texture, considering it to be sweeter, redder and with a smoother or non-gritty texture than other commercial varieties present in the area.

The landrace is very appreciated on the local market (Umbria Region), also due to the several initiatives carried out by local authorities to save the landrace by promoting its cultivation and market (see below ‘Added value’ and ‘External support’).

In order to encourage the cultivation and promote ‘Sedano Nero di Trevi’ on the local market, the association named ‘Pro Trevi’ established a festival during which the product is directly sold by the farmers and a prize is assigned to the best farmer. The event takes place in Trevi (Perugia) every year, in October.

‘Sedano Nero di Trevi’ also caught the interest of the Slow Food movement which included it among its ‘presidia’ in 2008, and, within a few years, it became a must in many top restaurants, even outside the Umbria Region.

This landrace has been also recognized as ‘Prodotto Agroalimentare Tipico’ (PAT, litteraly Typical Food Product) by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry through technical support of Region Umbria. The PAT recognition is based on evidences that demonstrate the use of a landrace (or a processed foodstuff) in a certain area for at least 25 years.

In 2014 ‘Sedano Nero di Trevi’ was included into the ‘Registro Regionale delle Varietà Locali’ (‘Regional Register of Landraces’) of Umbria Region, in the implementation of the Umbria Region Law (n. 25, 2001) on genetic resources.

Many maintainers of this landrace on Shetland and Orkney do not market their potato crops. They are often for personal consumption or to be shared with friends and family but are occasionally sold at local markets or informally to acquaintances.

This is not to say that there is no wider market for the Shetland Black potato. They are available to buy online where their status as a registered ‘Slow Food’ is a selling point (Heritage-potatoes.co.uk, 2019).

Shetland black potatoes have caught the attention of the ‘Slow Food’ movement in the UK and are therefore now a registered Slow food (Slow Food in the UK, 2019). Potato landraces fall under SASA’s Scottish Landrace Protection Scheme (Sasa.gov.uk, 2019).

This landrace is registered in the Ark of Taste of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. Nowadays, the landrace ‘Tarreste’, besides being used in the traditional way, it is also used in a regional sweet, in a concept of innovation, giving new uses to traditional landraces.

In addition, young students and young chefs are currently using this landrace to develop new dishes in international competitions.

This regional variety is registered in the Ark of Taste of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity.

Undoubtedly, the small-size, anhydrous ‘Tomataki’ plays an important role in the gastronomic identity of the island. It can be consumed as fresh fruit or as processed product, such as tomato paste, juice, sauce, dip, sun-dried tomatoes and spread. The tomato paste, rich in lycopene and antioxidants is very famous for the bright red colour, the velvety texture and the natural sweet taste. The establishments and the modern equipment of the tomato process factory of the Union of Santorini Cooperatives give the facility of processing all the above products and place them on the local and national market. The last years, steps are made to increase the production and the promotion of the product to other European and non-European markets and the market for ‘Tomataki’ was expanded, while people from all over the world can by on-line all the products of the Union of Santorini Cooperatives e-shop (https://santowines.gr/en/). Most of the farmers sell the tomato production to the Union as a labelled PDO product but some times during the summer they sell it directly at local taverns as fresh fruit.

In 2013 ‘Tomataki Santorinis’ was registered into the European List of Protected Designation of Origin products (EC No: EL-PDO-0005-0888-26.08.2011) following the COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2013:167:0022:0026:EN:PDF). The small yield per hectare on Santorini's dry soils (average yield around 5 tonnes and only in exceptional cases they reach 10 tonnes maximum per hectare compared with around 100 tonnes per hectare for outdoor tomatoes grown inland) means that ‘Tomataki Santorinis’ fetches a substantially higher price, which is a major incentive to fraud. The PDO label will protect the outstanding reputation of the product marketed.

The principal advantages of ‘Tomataki’ grown on Santorini are their higher sugar content and their higher level of total soluble solids. This specific quality characteristic is the result of the combined influence of the genetic material of the local variety, the traditional cultivation method used by the farmers, naturally, Santorini's and the surrounding islands’ soil and climate conditions and the adaptation of the plant to the environment of Santorini. The unique ecosystem that was created by the volcanic explosions on Santorini island, the volcanic ash, the barren, sandy soil, and the resilience of the plant to poor drainage lands, humidity created by the sea, drought, heavy winds and its adaptability to the volcanic soil of the island make ‘Tomataki’ a resource with an important agronomic and commercial value too. ‘Tomataki Santorinis’ is a striking example of a highly-priced local product of excellent quality whose production involves the sustainable use of unique natural resources.