Collecting landrace vegetable crops in Puglia region: case study of Foggia Province

Exploration missions were carried out in Foggia Province, Puglia Region (Southern Italy) with the main aims of: (1) mapping and collecting vegetable landraces (LR) still cultivated in this area; (2) determining the amount of the LR diversity. The Foggia Province is characterized by the wide and flat valley of the Tavoliere Plain, where intensive agriculture is performed, and two hill/mountain areas known as the Daunian Subappennine and Gargano promontory with more extensive agriculture systems. Due to the geo-morphological diversity of this area, it proved to be rich in cultivated vegetable LRs, mostly in marginal areas of the Gargano promontory (National Park- Umbra Forest and historical citrus oasis-, coastal peri-urban areas) and of the Daunian mountains. In the Tavoliere Plain the richest zones were some peri-urban areas and the historical 'arenili’, which are sandy fields situated along the coast including Zapponeta and Margherita di Savoia municipalities. We visited more than 30 sites and the gardens explored were usually managed by old farmers, who still keep their own seeds, using LR products mainly for their own consumption or, to a lesser extent, selling them in local markets and/or in typical local restaurants as gourmet vegetable dishes. Approximately 90 accessions from different crop species were collected, belonging to 8 botanical families: Solanaceae was the most represented (32%, particularly tomato, pepper and potato), followed by Cucurbitaceae (19%), Alliaceae (17%), Leguminoseae (13%), Asteraceae (7%), Brassicaceae and Apiaceae (5%). Most of them are under high risk of genetic erosion.