Abstract
At the beginning of the 20th Century Italy was one of the most important producers of lentil in the Mediterranean basin. Presently, this pulse is mainly cultivated in marginal areas of Central and Southern Italy and in some small islands. As a result of the reduced attention devoted to lentil, several autochthonous populations have disappeared together with the traditions related to their cultivation. Moreover, how long the cultivation of those still grown today will continue is unpredictable. Governmental and local associations have a time window for anticipating a possible epoch when to grow these landraces will be no longer profitable. In the last decades the Germplasm Institute of the National Research Council (Bari, Italy) and the Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (Gatersleben, Germany) have collected 63 lentil populations in Italy, presently stored ex situ. The evaluation of this collection has shown the existence of an appreciable morphological, agronomic and genetic diversity that could foster future breeding programmes. It is concluded that there is an urgent need to promote the survival of lentil populations in situ, since this will further support the adaptation and evolution of autochthonous genotypes in their original environments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Assessorato Agricoltura e Foreste, 1995. Umbria: dove la buona tavola è un'arte. Regione Umbria (Ed.), Perugia, Italy.
Associazione Pro Loco, 1990. S. Stefano di Sessanio. La Rosa, L'Aquila, Italy.
Barcaccia, G., E. Albertini, R. Torricelli, L. Russi, C. Tomassini & M. Falcinelli, 1998. Molecular characterisation of local varieties of lentil and emmer. Proc. IV Convegno Nazionale sulla Biodiversità, 8-11 September 1998, Alghero, Italy.
Bozzini, A., P. Iannelli & L. Rossi, 1988. Valutazione di germoplasma di lenticchia di recente introduzione. Informatore Agrario 44: 39–45.
Castelli, G., 1935. La coltivazione della lenticchia in provincia di Bari. La Propaganda Agricola, G. Laterza & Figli, Bari, Italy.
Cubero, J.I., 1981. Origin, taxonomy and domestication. In: Webb, C. & G.C. Hawtin (Eds.), Lentils, pp. 15–38, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough, UK.
Cubero, J.I., 1984. Taxonomy, distribution and evolution of the lentil and its wild relatives. In: Witcombe, J.R. & W. Erskine (Eds.), Genetic Resources and their Exploitation-Chickpeas, Faba Beans and Lentils, pp. 187–203, M. Nijhoff & W. Junk, Boston, MA, USA.
Di Prima, G., M. Monti, G. Preiti, G. Laghetti & A.R. Piergiovanni, 1997. Caratterizzazione agronomica e qualitativa di germoplasma di lenticchia (Lens culinaris Medik.). Risultati preliminari. Proc. III Convegno Nazionale sulla Biodiversità, 16-17 June 1997, Reggio Calabria, pp. 271–277, Laruffa, Reggio Calabria, Italy.
EC Reg. no. 2081/92 and no. 2082/92 published 24 July 1992, GUCE L208 and following modifications EC Reg. no. 535/97 published 25 March 1997, GUCE L83.
EC Reg. no. 1065/97 published 13 June 1997, GUCE L156.
EC Reg. no. 1107/96 published 21 June 1996, GUCE L148.
Erskine, W., 1997. Lessons for breeders from landraces of lentil. Euphytica 93: 107–112.
Gallo, G., A.C. Barbera & G. Venora, 1997. Valutazione agronomica di popolazioni di lenticchia (Lens culinaris Medik.) in ambienti semi-aridi. Proc. III Convegno Nazionale sulla Biodiversità, 16-17 June 1997, Reggio Calabria, pp. 279–288, Laruffa, Reggio Calabria, Italy.
Gladis, T., K. Hammer, G. Laghetti, G.F. Delogu & P. Perrino, 1994. Collecting in Sardinia, 1993. Plant Genet. Res. Newslett. 98: 18–20.
Hammer, K., H. Knupffer, G. Laghetti & P. Perrino, 1992. Seeds from the past. A catalogue of crop germplasm is south-Italy and Sicily, Germplasm Institute-CNR, Bari, Italy.
Hammer, K., G. Laghetti, D. Pignone, K. Pistrick, L. Xhuveli & P. Perrino, 1994. Emergency collecting missions to Albania, 1993. Plant Genet. Res. Newslett. 97: 59–62.
Hammer, K., H. Knupffer, L. Xhuveli & P. Perrino, 1996a. Estimating genetic erosion in landraces-two case studies. Genet. Resour. Crop Evol. 43: 329–336.
Hammer, K., G. Laghetti, G. Olita, P. Perrino & L. Xhuveli, 1996b. Collecting in the Albanian mountains, 1995. Plant Genet. Res. Newslett. 107: 36–40.
Hammer, K., G. Laghetti & P. Perrino, 1997. Proposal to make the island of Linosa/Italy as a centre for on-farm conservation of plant genetic resour. Genet. Resour. Crop Evol. 44: 127–135.
Hammer, K., G. Laghetti & P. Perrino, 1999. A checklist of the cultivated plants of Ustica (Italy). Genet. Resour. Crop Evol. 46: 95–106.
Hansen, J. & J.M. Renfrew, 1978. Paleolithic-Neolithic seed remains at Franchthi cave, Greece. Nature 71: 349–352.
Iannelli, P., 1988. Valutazione di germoplasma autoctono di lenticchia del centro-sud. Informatore Agrario 44: 37–38.
ISTAT. Annuari Statistici dell'Agricoltura Italiana. Roma, Italy.
Laghetti, G., K. Hammer & P. Perrino, 1996. Plant genetic resources in Pantelleria and Pelagie archipelagos, Italy: collecting and conservation of local crop germplasm. Plant Genet. Res. Newslett. 108: 17–25.
Musardo Talò, V., 1996. San Marzano di San Giuseppe. Un'isola culturale in terra di Puglia. Del Grifo, Taranto, Italy.
Penzig, O., 1924. Flora popolare italiana. Raccolta dei nomi dialettali delle principali piante indigene coltivate in Italia. Vol. I, p. 184, Edagricole, Bologna, Italy.
Pepe, P., 1995. Ventotene e S. Stefano. CEP, Frosinone, Italy.
Piergiovanni, A.R., G. Laghetti, G. Olita, M. Monti, G. Preiti & G. Di Prima, 1998. Screening for agronomic and biochemical traits in a lentil germplasm collection. Proc. 3rd European Conference on Grain Legume, 14-19 November 1998, Valladolid (Spain), p. 206.
Piergiovanni, A.R. & G. Laghetti, 1999. The common bean landraces from Basilicata (Southern Italy): an example of integrated approach applied to genetic resources management. Genet. Resour. Crop Evol. 46: 47–52.
Pignatti, S., 1982. Flora d'Italia. vol. I, p. 685, Edagricole, Bologna, Italy.
Pignone, D. & A.R. Piergiovanni, 1998. Local germplasm safeguard through its promotion: some case studies. Proc. 3rd MEDUSA Regional Workshop, Coimbra (Portugal), 27-28 April 1998 (in press).
Pignone, D., K. Hammer, T. Gladis & P. Perrino, 1997. Collecting in southern Sardinia (Italy), 1995. Plant Genet. Res. Newslett. 109: 7–10.
Pro Loco Onanese, 1990. Sagra della lenticchia onanese. Gigli, Viterbo, Italy.
Ricchioni, V., 1940. La distribuzione delle colture. In: L'economia dell'agricoltura pugliese, pp. 171–230. Macri, Bari, Italy.
Rossi, G., D. Febbo, P. Leone, A. Manzi, P. Pigliacelli & F. Vallarola, 1998. Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga. Ente Parco Nazionale del Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga, L'Aquila, Italy.
Sansivente B.M., 1849. Report on Linosa island for Ferdinand II of Bourbons. Naples, Italy.
Santilli, A., 1898. Manuale dell'agricoltore, pp. 322–323, F. Casanova, Firenze, Italy.
Sarno, R., L. Stringi, G. Amato & L. Gristina, 1988. L'epoca di semina ed il genotipo nella coltivazione della lenticchia in ambiente semi-arido. Informatore Agrario 44: 51–54.
Sciacca, M., 1977. I latifondi e i giardini di Sicilia. In: Le terre del Sud, pp. 101–109, Lerici, Cosenza, Italy.
Solh, M. & W. Erskine, 1981. Genetic resources. In: Webb, C. & G.C. Hawtin (Eds.), Lentils, pp. 54–67, Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough, UK.
Solh, M. & W. Erskine, 1984. Genetic resources of lentils. In: Witcombe, J.R. & W. Erskine (Eds.), Genetic Resources and their Exploitation-Chickpeas, Faba Beans and Lentils, pp. 205–221, M. Nijhoff & W. Junk, Boston, MA, USA.
Zohary, D., 1972. The wild progenitor and place of origin of the cultivated lentil Lens culinaris. Econom. Bot. 26: 326–332.
Zohary, D. & M. Hopf, 1988. Domestication of Plants in the Old world. Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK.
Zucchini, M., 1937. Il cece, la lenticchia e la cicerchia. Biblioteca per l'insegnamento agrario professionale. Ramo Editoriale degli Agricoltori, Roma, Italy.
Zucchini, M., 1938. Leguminose da granella. Note di tecnica colturale e concimazione, pp. 17–28. Comitato Nazionale per l'incremento delle concimazioni, Roma, Italy.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Piergiovanni, A.R. The evolution of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) cultivation in Italy and its effects on the survival of autochthonous populations. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 47, 305–314 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008789614680
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008789614680