Harnessing barley diversity to expand the crop genetic base for shifting agroecosystems_
WP1. Leader: Dr. Alessandro Tondelli (CREA).
Task Leaders: CREA, Univ. Cukurova, CSIC.
Partners involved: CSIC, Univ. Helsinki, Univ. Cukurova, CREA, UCD
- Assembling barley core collections from existing genetic resources.
- Exploring a barley core collection for adaptation to low input agriculture.
- Assessing a barley mini-core collection across a latitudinal gradient.
- Broadening the genetic base of barley: assessment at the farm level and through farmer’s field days.
The performance of collections of landraces and heritage cultivars, fully genotyped and partially characterized phenotypically in past and ongoing projects will be explored. The exploration of barley genetic diversity can lead to primary usage of landraces or legacy cultivars in low N environments similar to the nutrient environments in which they originated. Selected subsets of good agronomic value will be tested in field trials under low fertilization and abiotic stresses in parallel to current elite cultivars, as checks, in order to find promising accessions for direct use, pre-breeding, and gene mining.
