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Gmail.com (T.C.); [email protected] (K.A.); [email protected] (N.-M.K.) Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +30-210-529-4626 These authors contributed equally to this work.Citation: Thanopoulos, R.; Chatzigeorgiou, T.; Argyropoulou, K.; Kostouros, N.-M.; Bebeli, P.J. State of Crop Landraces in Arcadia (Greece) and In-Situ Conservation Potential. Diversity 2021, 13, 558. https:// doi.org/10.3390/d13110558 Academic Editor: Michael Wink Received: 11 October 2021 Accepted: 28 October 2021 Published: 1 NovemberAbstract: Genetic Charybdotoxin manufacturer erosion of landraces is growing worldwide, having said that there are actually still regions rich in landrace biodiversity, like islands and mountainous isolated places. Defining the reasons of landrace abandonment in these locations, at the same time as collecting and preserving landraces, is of outmost importance. In this context, the Agricultural University of Athens organized missions in 53 villages of Arcadia, a prefecture wealthy in floral biodiversity and variable climatic circumstances and topography. The aim was to gather samples on the on-farm (in-situ) conserved annual crop landraces and record the place of perennial crop neighborhood varieties. Given that conventional information and practices have been playing a important role within the survival of landraces and neighborhood varieties, facts was obtained by means of private interviews with locals utilizing semi-structured questionnaires. Even though the amount of accessions collected from Arcadia has been decreased (141 samples) in comparison with preceding collections and genetic erosion is advancing drastically for cereals and pulses, a considerable variety of landraces is still cultivated by the locals. The factors of landrace abandonment have been other sources of occupation than agriculture, including public service jobs, mechanization, and commercialization of agriculture. Gastronomic and agro-tourism along with European Union trademarks and policies can help locals in landrace/local varieties in-situ conservation. Keywords: collecting mission; conservation; conservation varieties; diversity; ex-situ; genetic material; landraces; local varieties; farmers’ varieties; Peloponnese1. Introduction There are various references on the significance of landraces (recognized also as nearby varieties, farmers’ varieties, or conservation varieties) for their direct Etiocholanolone Epigenetics regular use by humans and their value as genetic sources. In accordance with Zeven et al. [1], the initial reference with regards to landraces was made in 1890s, when 20 years later the first definitions on this subject have been published. Landraces are usually defined as dynamic populations of a cultivated plant species with historical origin and distinct identity and are related using a set of farming practices and knowledge [2,3]. For centuries, crop landraces have already been the genetic material used for agriculture and have played a basic function in the history of crops worldwide, regarding crop improvement and production [4]. Landraces have extended been recognized as a source of traits for local adaptation, tension tolerance, yield stability, and nutritional high quality [5]. Benlioglu and Adak [6] highlighted that plant genetic sources are the biological basis of worldwide meals safety. Since cultivars usually lack alleles that contribute to tolerance or resistance to biotic and abiotic pressure components, breeders use plant genetic resources (landraces and crop wild relatives) for the improvement of varieties [6]. In addition, as pointed out by Azzez [2], despite the fact that landraces are.