collection mission in Turkmenistan, 2002, 25 May -15 June

purpose and objectives To survey and collect landraces of domesticated cereals, pasture, forage, food legumes, their wild relatives and progenitors in addition to potentially useful rangeland species from To take eco-climatologically data for collection sites to enable eco-geographic analysis of the distribution of the species collected To enhance our understanding of rangeland environments in Turkmenistan To assess what local germplasm is being conserved by national programs in Turkmenistan and to obtain seeds of the target species from these genebanks To make contact and linkages with local scientist working in genetic resources, agriculture and the environmental sciences in Turkmenistan

t u r k m e n i s t a n

Materials collected from a total of 48 sites in Turkmenistan

Type	Number of species	Total accessions
Cereals + wild relatives	18	91
Food legume wild relatives	3	8
Pasture, forage and range	69+	259
Ornamentals	14+	53
Horticultural	1	1
Medicinal	1+	5
Total	106+	413

+ indicates some species are not yet identified

"...The mission covered approximately 950 km and included the Ashgabat, Bakharden and Gara-Kala provinces. Included in the collection sites was the Yaldera nature reserve in the Gara-Kala province. It is protected from grazing and was the most species rich site..."

"...Sample sites were selected at 20-30 km intervals or according to observed vegetation and habitats likely to yield target species. Where possible 30 plants were sampled per species to adequately sample the variation available within populations and to provide sufficient seed to allow for splitting of samples between the collaborating institutions..."

"...Emphasis was given to collecting full passport data for each collection site. A Global Positioning System (GPS) unit was used to obtain Latitudes and Longitudes for each site. Climatic data were obtained from published records. Elevation was measured during sampling using an altimeter. Soil samples were taken from the top 30 cm of soil to provide for mechanical analysis and tests of pH, CaCO3, soil color, available phosphorus and total nitrogen. This data will enable an eco-geographical analysis of the distribution of species collected..."

Of the cereals and their wild relatives Hordeum spontaneum, Hordeum bulbosum and Aegilops kotschyi were the most widely distributed in the regions covered. Aegilops cylindrica was the next most widely distributed but was in an advanced stage of shattering in most regions visited. Only 3 accessions of Aegilops tauschii and one of Aegilops vavlovii were collected..."

"...General observations in cultivated fields, local market places and questioning both farmers and agricultural researchers revealed that no lentils are grown in Turkmenistan. The only lentils sited in Turkmenistan were found in the Ashgabat market place and were imported form the Caucuses. However one farmer insisted that lentils were grown in the Gara-Kala province 30 years ago. Wild lentils were also rare in the areas surveyed. Only one accession of Lens orientalis was collected in the Yaldera nature reserve..."

No cultivated chickpeas were observed in the areas surveyed. In a few market places chickpeas were on offer that were supposedly locally grown. A number of accessions were obtained from local farmers who said they grew chickpea in the mountains. The agricultural department and the department of statistics and information had no data on the area of chickpea under cultivation. 70 Chickpea accessions was donated by Gara-Kala Experimental Station to ICARDA-GRU. However these are not of Turkmenistan origin, rather it was a selection of material from a variety of countries, which had been sent to them for experimental purposes from N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) in St. Petersburg for regeneration and experimental purposes..."

"...Potential fodder species were common in irrigated or moist environments. Vicia, Lathyrus, Pisum and Medicago species were collected. Vicia sativa was the most widely distributed..."

"...The majority of accessions collected were rangeland species and included Astragalus, Colutea, Dactylis, Melica, Stipa and Plantago species. Artemisia, Haloxylon, Salsola, Atriplex were common but it was not the appropriate time to collect seeds..."

"...A comparison of the number of landraces for cereals and food legumes collected in N I Vavilovs time with what was observed on this mission makes it evident that considerable genetic erosion has occurred in Turkmenistan. To a large extent this is probably due to the Soviet agricultural policies that more or less designated Turkmenistan as a commodity producing area. If food crops were grown then they would have been improved varieties. Additional to this an increasing number of livestock are beginning to put pressure on an already degraded ecology Farmers and researchers from the Agricultural Research Institute in Ashgabad confirmed that local cereal landraces have long since been replaced by modern varieties..."

"...A further three range species were donated by the National Institute of Deserts Flora and Fauna. Three wheat varieties developed by the Agricultural Research Institute in Ashkhabad were donated also..."

The collected seed was divided in half. Half of the seed was left with the National Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna and the rest was taken to ICARDA for multiplication, characterization and conservation.
Passport data has been put into the ICARDA germplasm collection database. Soil samples were left at the desert institutes in Ashgabad for physical and chemical analysis.