Towards conservation of the local landraces of faba bean (<em>Vicia faba</em>) in Serbia.

Abstract

International audienceToday, faba bean (Vicia faba L.) in Serbia is almost an extinct crop, without official data on harvested area or production for decades. However, faba bean survived in certain parts of the country, especially along the rivers Southern and Great Morava, in the centre, and in Backa, in the north. In these parts, faba bean is cultivated mostly to suit one's own needs and sporadically is brought to green markets. It is grown as a garden crop, with sowing either in spring or during winter in order to achieve faster growth in comparison to the first schedule. First steps towards the conservation of faba bean local landraces in Serbia have been made within the multilateral project ECO-NET 18817 (2008-2009) between France, Bulgaria, Russia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with about 30 populations collected, and will be proceeded with within the recently launched bilateral project LEG-HIVER between Serbia and France, with multilevel characterisation and evaluation planne