Multiple crops in Albania 2022, 2023

Collectors: Rik Lievers¹, Belul Gixhari², Sokrat Jani², Hajdar Kuçi², Ndoc Faslia³

¹Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands (CGN), Wageningen University and Research
²Institute of Plant Genetic Resources, Agricultural University of Tirana
³Department of Plant Sciences and Technologies, Agricultural University of Tirana

Collecting activities and material sampled

The collecting team included 4 members, including driver. During the 2022 mission, the team was extended for several days with an expert on Albanian crop wild relatives. Collecting efforts targeted markets, local farmers, and wild habitats. During the expedition an area of approximately 300 x 130 km was covered and over 4000 km was traversed (Figure 1A). More schematically, the expedition covered the North Albanian Alps and the coastal lowlands around Shkodra, the Adriatic and Ionian seacoast of Southwest Albania, and the southeastern part of Albania between Lake Ohrid and the Pindus mountains (Figure 1B).

Landraces were collected either directly from farmers or through collaboration with local agronomic specialists. These experts had already identified and collected valuable landraces from farmers in the lead-up to the expedition. Crop wild relatives were collected mostly from roadsides in a wide variety of habitats, ranging from coastal lime stone cliffs and beaches in the south, to olive groves and abandoned farm fields in Central Albania, and mountainous areas reaching up to 1200 m in the North. Additionally, opportunistic collection from villages and farms where landraces were sourced took place.

Passport data were collected and the latitude, longitude and altitude were determined with google maps. Pictures were also taken of the plants in their natural environment. The missions collected 307 accessions (99 landraces and 208 wild) of 41 different species (Table 1.). Some of the accessions, especially Allium and Daucus, needed further taxonomical identification.