The evolution of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) cultivation in Italy and its effects on the survival of autochthonous populations

At the beginning of the 20th Century Italy was one of the most important pr oducers of lentil in the Mediterranean basin. Presently, this pulse is main ly cultivated in marginal areas of Central and Southern Italy and in some s mall islands. As a result of the reduced attention devoted to lentil, sever al autochthonous populations have disappeared together with the traditions related to their cultivation. Moreover, how long the cultivation of those s till grown today will continue is unpredictable. Governmental and local ass ociations have a time window for anticipating a possible epoch when to grow these landraces will be no longer profitable. In the last decades the Germ plasm Institute of the National Research Council (Bari, Italy) and the Inst itut fur Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (Gatersleben, Germany) have collected 63 lentil populations in Italy, presently stored ex situ. T he evaluation of this collection has shown the existence of an appreciable morphological, agronomic and genetic diversity that could foster future bre eding programmes. It is concluded that there is an urgent need to promote t he survival of lentil populations in situ, since this will further support the adaptation and evolution of autochthonous genotypes in their original e nvironments.