Wheat and barley seed system in Syria: How diverse are wheat and barley varieties and landraces from farmer’s fields?

"> The present study described the diversity of wheat and barley varieties andlandraces available in farmer’s fields in Syria using different indicators. Analysisof spatial and temporal diversity and coefficient of parentage along withmeasurements of agronomic and morphological traits were employed to explain thediversity of wheat and barley varieties or landraces grown by farmers in Syria.Farm level surveys showed low spatial diversity of wheat and barley where only afew dominant varieties occupied a large proportion of wheat and barley areas. Thefive top wheat varieties (ACSAD 65, Cham 1, Cham3, Lahan and Cham 6)occupied 81% of the wheat area and were grown by 78% of the sample farmers. Incase of barley one single landrace was grown in almost the entire survey area innorth eastern Syria. The weighted average age of wheat varieties was highest withan average of 10.8 years showing low temporal diversity by farmers. In Syria breadwheat showed lower average diversity and weighted diversity than durum wheat.Variance component analysis showed significant variations for desirableagronomic characters such as plant height, grain yield and yield components(kernels per spike-1, seed weight) among wheat and barley varieties and landraces.The principal component analysis explained the variations that existed amongmodern varieties and landraces. Cluster analysis based on agronomic andmorphological traits grouped the modern varieties and landraces into separateclusters. The variation that existed among the landraces showed broadopportunities for using in plant breeding programs to develop varieties suitable for different agro-ecological zones. To date large areas previously grown to traditionalvarieties and landraces are now increasingly replaced by contiguous expanse ofland planted to uniform modern bread and durum wheat varieties and are grown bylarge number of farmers. Apart from the landraces, the wild relatives andprogenitors of both wheat and barley are being threatened by extinction in thecenter of origin.