Recovery, characterization and valorisation of autochthonous woody crop germplasm in Apulia

The agricultural biodiversity, in addition to the need of protecting the genetic and historical-cultural heritage, is a significant untapped economic potential that, albeit slowly, was started to be used. Its contribution to the local agricultural economy can be declined in several ways: the growing demand for new products strictly territorial in response to the product's standardization on the global markets; the placement of biodiverse products in new marketing channels such as the direct sale or the direct consumption in the agritourisms; the use of more adaptable local cultivars in marginal areas with lower costs and energy inputs. The agro-biodiversity, in the logic of the diversification of the agricultural activities, is being re-evaluated especially in the small multifunctional farms interested in the receptivity and valorisation of the territory. The same in-situ and ex-situ germplasm collections represent a further important tourist attraction to be exploited for increasing, especially out of season, the flow of food and wine enthusiasts in the rural areas. The Apulia Region, through the EU Rural Development Plan (RDP 2007-2013), decided to funds 5 "Integrated projects for biodiversity" aimed to identify, collect, protect and characterize the rich germplasm of the main crops represented by hundreds of old/minor/neglected cvs threatened by genetic erosion just before their irreversible loss. With big multidisciplinary efforts, the projects Re.Ge.Vi.P., Re.Ger.OP and Re.Ge.Fru.P., dealing respectively with grape, olive and fruits crops, allowed to make a sensible progress in the recovery and study of regional germplasm representing the prerequisite for its economic valorisation. The wide partnerships, through 8 activities, including bibliographic research, meetings and interview with the farmers, identified, geo-referenced, collected, multiplied and planted several hundred new selections/varieties, enriching the existing ex-situ gene banks; all the germplasm was studied and characterized by morphological, genetic, agronomic, technological and sanitary approaches in order to verify the varietal identity, to register officially the new varieties as well to evaluate its real economic and productive potential. The field collections with improved facilities/labs, the new knowledge acquired in open data-bases, the new regional law "Protection of indigenous genetic resources" and the RDP funds 2014-2020, all together represent the necessary elements of our long-term germplasm valorization' strategy.