Decline of the maize landrace cultivation in eastern Serbia

Abstract

State of maize landraces in the eastern Serbia was assessed through a field study and interviews withfarmers to determine both presence and extent of the maize landrace utilization. Results indicated that theextent of maize landraces cultivation in this region has significantly diminished during the last few decades, aswell as that some maize types seem to have disappeared. The landrace cultivation was strongly related totraditional agricultural practices. Farmers claimed that the maize landraces were more resistant tounfavourable environmental conditions. Efforts to conserve the genetic diversity of maize landraces should bedirected to investments into small-scale farming.

Keywords

Zea mays; landrace; interview; questionnaire; in situ preservation; traditional practice

Published in

Romanian Agricultural Research
2014, volume: 31, pages: 11-16

SLU Authors

• Iwarsson, Mattias

  • Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

SLU Swedish Biodiversity Centre

UKÄ Subject classification

Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Environmental Sciences and Nature Conservation
Economic Geography

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/53100