Landrace

"Landrace breed" redirects here. For specific standardized breeds with "Landrace" in their names, see Landrace (disambiguation).
Aerial roots of a maize landrace grown in nitrogen-depleted soils in the Sierra Mixe, known for extensive aerial roots with a bacterial gel supplying 29–82% of the plant's nitrogen supply[1]

A landrace is a domesticated, locally adapted,[2][3][4] often traditional[5] variety of a species of animal or plant that has developed over time, through adaptation to its natural and cultural environment of agriculture and pastoralism, and due to isolation from other populations of the species.[2] Landraces are distinct from cultivars and from standard breeds.[6]

A significant proportion of farmers around the world grow landrace crops,[4] and most plant landraces are associated with traditional agricultural systems.[5] Landraces of many crops have probably been grown for millennia.[7] Increasing reliance upon modern plant cultivars that are bred to be uniform has led to a reduction in biodiversity,[8][9][10] because most of the genetic diversity of domesticated plant species lies in landraces and other traditionally used varieties.[9] Some farmers using scientifically improved varieties also continue to raise landraces for agronomic reasons that include better adaptation to the local environment, lower fertilizer requirements, lower cost, and better disease resistance. Cultural and market preferences for landraces include culinary uses and product attributes such as texture, color, or ease of use.[8][9]

Plant landraces have been the subject of more academic research, and the majority of academic literature about landraces is focused on botany in agriculture, not animal husbandry. Animal landraces are distinct from ancestral wild species of modern animal stock, and are also distinct from separate species or subspecies derived from the same ancestor as modern domestic stock. Not all landraces derive from wild or ancient animal stock; in some cases, notably dogs and horses, domestic animals have escaped in sufficient numbers in an area to breed feral populations that form new landraces through evolutionary pressure.

  1. ^ Deynze, Allen Van; Zamora, Pablo; Delaux, Pierre-Marc; Heitmann, Cristobal; Jayaraman, Dhileepkumar; Rajasekar, Shanmugam; Graham, Danielle; Maeda, Junko; Gibson, Donald; Schwartz, Kevin D.; Berry, Alison M.; Bhatnagar, Srijak; Jospin, Guillaume; Darling, Aaron; Jeannotte, Richard (2018-08-07). "Nitrogen fixation in a landrace of maize is supported by a mucilage-associated diazotrophic microbiota". PLOS Biology. 16 (8): e2006352. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2006352. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 6080747. PMID 30086128.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Sponenberg 2000 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. "Reviewing the Roles of Animal Genetic Resources and Options for Their Conservation" (PDF). In Vivo Conservation of Animal Genetic Resources. FAO Animal Production and Health Guidelines. UN Food and Agriculture Organization. pp. 4–5. ISSN 1810-0708.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Jones 2008 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Camacho Villa, Taina Carolina; Maxted, Nigel; Scholten, Maria; Ford-Lloyd, Brian (December 2005). "Defining and Identifying Crop Landraces". Plant Genetic Resources. 3 (3): 373–384. doi:10.1079/PGR200591. S2CID 5234510.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference FAO Glossary was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Zeven was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b Breton Olson, Meryl; Morris, Katlyn S.; Méndez, V. Ernesto (2012). "Cultivation of Maize Landraces by Small-scale Shade Coffee Farmers in Western El Salvador" (PDF). Agricultural Systems. 111 (111): 63–74. Bibcode:2012AgSys.111...63O. doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2012.05.005.
  9. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Andersen was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Irish Landraces". Waterford, Ireland: National Biodiversity Data Centre. 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved August 7, 2014.