<em>Ex situ</em> evaluation of grain yield in local landraces of faba bean (<em>Vicia faba</em> L.) from Serbia

Book of abstractsInternational audienceFaba bean (Vicia faba L.) originated in Central Asian centre of diversity. Faba bean is one of the most ancient cultivated plant species in the world, along with several other grain legumes, and cereals. Numerous archaeobotanical fi ndings, supported by rich linguistic evidence (1), witness its early and rapid distribution during Neolithic from Near East to Europe, North Africa and Central and East Asia and an important role it had in everyday diets of the ancestors of modern Old World nations. Today, faba bean is one of the most important annual legume crops for human consumption, animal feeding and for non-food purposes. Conservation and sustainable utilisation of faba bean genetic resources play the most signifi cant role in contemporary faba bean breeding programmes and developing novel faba bean cultivars with high and stable grain yield, enhanced quality aspects and improved resistance to both abiotic and biotic stresses (2). Serbia is an example of a country where faba bean used to be cultivated to a great extent until few centuries ago, when it was gradually and in the end almost fully replaced by common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Today, faba bean has survived at several locations in Bačka and Srem, in the north, and especially in the areas adjacent to the valley of the river South Morava, in central and southeast parts of the country (3). Since 2009, expeditions have been made to local green markets and households of these regions, aiming at collecting locally grown and maintained faba bean landraces. A small-plot trial has been carried out during 2011 and 2012 at the Experimental Field of the Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops at Rimski Šančevi, including 30 local landraces of faba bean from several villages in the vicinity of Kruševac. The two-year average highest grain yield was in the population Gaglovo 3 (4537 kg ha-1), while the highest two-year average crude protein content was in the population Pepeljevac (284 g kg-1). Further research will comprise the evaluation of tannin contents and other nutritional aspects