Abstract
A germplasm collection of 59 landraces of rye (Secale cereale L.) and 10 landraces of spelt (Triticum spelta L.) from North and South Tyrol is available. Landraces are thought to be well adapted to the environmental conditions of the region where they have been evolved. They are further considered to be highly tolerant to biotic and abiotic stress conditions. The aim of the project CereAlp was to examine the agronomic and qualitative traits of the collected landraces. All investigated landraces are stored at the germplasm collection of the Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry Laimburg and at the germplasm collection of the Province of Tyrol, Innsbruck. Field experiments were conducted at four different field sites (two sites each in South and North Tyrol) in the year 2013/14. The experimental design for the characterization of the rye varieties was an incomplete block design with two replications and a plot size of 4.8 m². For the spelt varieties a randomized complete block design with three replications and a plot size of 3.6 m² was used. Modern cultivars of winter rye and spelt were used as check varieties. The following agronomic traits were studied: winter hardiness, days to maturity, straw length, resistance to lodging, seed shattering, grain yield, seeds per spike, spike density, harvest index, thousand grain weight. Experiments under controlled greenhouse conditions were performed to investigate the resistance of the collected landraces to Fusarium ssp., Puccinia ssp. and Microdochium nivale. The resistance of the rye landraces to ergot (Claviceps purpu-rea) was investigated by determining the content of ergot in the harvested material. For the qualitative characterization of the landraces the following parameters were studied: hectolitre weight, falling number, protein and starch content, content of as-partic acid, total phenolic content, content of pentosans, amylogram, gluten index. With selected varieties a standard baking test was performed. A high variability of agronomic and qualitative traits within the collection was found. For the investigated landraces of winter rye all agronomic traits with exception of spike density were found to be significantly influenced by the variety. For the qualitative traits the following traits were not significantly influenced by the variety: falling number, protein content, starch content. For the spelt landraces the following agronomic and qualitative traits were found to be not significantly influenced by the variety: spikelets per spike, starch content, total phenolic content. Detailed information about the project is available at the project website www.cerealp.it. All data of the agronomic and qualitative characterization of the landraces was summarized in variety profiles that are also available on the project website.