On-farm conservation & mining of local durum wheat & barley landraces of Tunisia for biotic & abiotic stresses, enhanced food security & adaptation to climate change

DURUM WHEAT AND BARLEY ARE THE major staple food crops of Tunisia, occupying one-third of Tunisian cereals’ cultivated area. Therefore, there is a need to collect, conserve and sustainably use these precious resources, particularly in the face of recurrent droughts, pests and diseases affecting the country.

This BSF project aims to collect, conserve and mine wheat and barley landraces, as well as multiply the landraces with drought and disease resistance to positively impact income, food security and resilience of poor farming communities. All project activities revolve around the systematic inclusion and acknowledgement of the value of farmers’ knowledge, skills and preferences, as well as their active participation in all the phases of project implementation. Currently, 483 accessions of barley and 7206 accessions of durum wheat landraces have already been planted for seed multiplication at experimental stations.  These are being evaluated against disease reactions, pests and abiotic stresses, various phenotypic traits and molecular diversity by farmers and scientists.

These landraces are to be used for 'diversity fairs' and farmers' participatory selection and evaluation. Over 233 landraces of durum wheat and barley conserved ex-situ in other genebanks have been identified and repatriated for selection and evaluation. Five demonstration plots have been installed, covering all target regions and are being used by farmers for participatory selection of the landraces and evaluation of biotic stress tolerance reactions in different cultivating conditions.

• On-farm & ex-situ conservation of local landraces of wheat & barley
• Identification of useful diversity & hybridization to incorporate stress resistance
• Information exchange, technology transfer & capacity building in collection, conservation & utilization of wheat & barley