A COLLECTION OF VEGETABLE CROPS GERMPLASM FROM CANARY ISLANDS

Since 1982 the Polytechnical University of Valencia has been condunting an extensive collection of germplasm of horticultural species in Spain, Mexico and Peru. This is being done in collaboration with the Centro Regional de Investigaciones Agrarias (Murcia) and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Málaga), through a project partially supported by the IBPGR.

The Department recently made expeditions to collect vegetable material to the Canary Islands. Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera and Lanzarote were the islands visited.

A strong genetic erosion was detected specially in tomato, pepper and eggplant.

The Canary Islands is currently an important place acting like a bridge between America and Europe for the interchange of vegetable species. Two types of marrow "Bubango" and "Pantana" have manteined their exclusive use for boiling since its introduction some centuries ago. It could be very interesting to consider its possible reintroduction in the South of Spain. Some verieties of Lycopersicon esculentum and Beta have been found close to Mesembrianthemum cristallinum and Chenopodium, halophyte species indicators of soils with high salt concentration. This species, presumably adaptated to salin conditions, are very interesting for their introduction in the South of Spain, where the soils are suffering a progresively more and more serious salinization.