MONITORING FRUIT LANDRACES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC, TRACING THEIR ORIGIN AND POTENTIAL FOR THEIR CONSERVATION

Abstract

Landraces of cultivated plants originated from the beginning of agriculture through selection from wild ecotypes and cultivated by farmers in their domestic region were investigated with the goal to conserve fragments of still existing fruit landraces, including restoration of variable countryside with scattered and roadside trees, wind-breaking and snow-catching functions including fruit consumption. Individual trees were identified, attributed to cultivars, localized by GPS and mapped in the Geobase Map of the Czech Republic. The inventory listed 388 fruits out of total number of 2866 accessions. It is a basis for searching lost and extinct materials. The database was analyzed for cultivars, regionality and their longevity by the length of registration. The best indigenous materials were proposed for in situ conservation mainly in the territory of National Parks and Protected Landscape Areas.