Maize (Zea mays L.) landraces in eastern Serbia

The evolutionary value of landraces is immense, especially when bearing in mind the constant diminishment of crop genetic variability and the development of intensive agriculture. The assessment of morphological and agronomic traits of landraces, together with molecular markers, is certainly a good basis for the efforts toward their protection. Ten maize accessions, originating from the eastern Serbia, were characterized in this study by the use of morphological and molecular analysis. Since the morphological characterization was performed on the plant material grown on two different locations, environmental influence on the development of morphological traits was also addressed. The accessions were significantly differentiated in most of the characteristics that were measured. However, the results have indicated that the plants grown in two experimental plots were also significantly different due to influence of the different environmental conditions. Another part of the study was represented by the field survey conducted in the eastern Serbia, in the Homolje region, in order to determine the presence of the maize landraces and the extent of their utilization in the region. Traditional agricultural practices related to the cultivation of the maize landraces were found to be important for the preservation of the local maize varieties, as well as the cultural diversity related to the cultivation of this crop. However, it was also found that the cultivation of the maize landraces has substantially decreased during the last two decades and, nowadays, it is performed only on small parcels. The preservation of the landraces is a complex task, which should be approached not only through the conservation of the agricultural practices and in situ conservation, but also through proper management and evaluation of existing seed collections. This necessity should be widely recognized as the activity of the national and international interest.