Mihajlov, Ljupco (2010) Building of capacity to control Broomrape’s outbreaks in Western Balkans. [Project] (In Press)
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Abstract
Broomrape is a common name for more than 200 species from the family Orobanchaceae,. They all are chlorophyll-lacking obligate root holoparasites that subsist on broad-leaf plants, thereby depleting them of nutrients, minerals and water. Several broomrape species parasitize important crops (tomato, potato, tobacco, eggplant, faba bean, vetch, lentil, peanut, Brassica spp., sunflower, carrot, celery and parsley). At present, over 73 million hectares of farmland under cultivation in the Middle East, Southern and Eastern Europe, and regions of North Africa are infested with broomrapes. The losses in crop productivity estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars annually than affect the livelihoods of 100 million farmers. In Balkans the family Orobanchaceae is represented 2 genera: Orobanche includes 25 species, two of which are endemic for the region: O. serbica (the region of Nish and Dragoman), O. esulae (Bulgaria and Serbia). Other species, like Orobanche pancicii, do also occur elsewhere (e.g., in Central Europe), but have their centre of distribution on the Balkan Peninsula. Phelipanche includes 7 species and putatively also hybrids between Ph. ramosa and Ph. lavandulacea, which are reported in Bulgaria. Taxa in both genera additionally include many intraspecific taxa. Our current knowledge on their diversity on the Balkans is based on floristic records only. As has been shown for the floristically comparatively much better investigated Iberian Peninsula (Carlon et al. 2005), a combination of classical taxonomic approaches with modern molecular techniques can greatly enhance our understanding of broomrape diversity in a region including the description and resurrection of new and neglected taxa of often local or regional distribution. Thus, although previous phylogenetic studies (Park et al., 2007a, 2007b; Schneeweiss et al., 2004a; 2004b; Weiss-Schneeweiss, 2006) have included material from the Balkans, mainly from Greece and Croatia, the local biodiversity is still grossly under-studied using modern approaches. This not only leads to unclear status of taxonomically problematic species of Orobanchaceae and their local intraspecific taxa on the Balkans, but also hampers the assessment of their relevance as actual or potential agricultural pest species.
During the recent studies in Bulgaria a database of Orobanchaceae was created. The groups of Phelipanche (Stoyanov, 2005a) and Orobanche sect. Glandulosae (Stoyanov, in press) are revised. A determination key of Phelipanche, based on the seed morphology is completed (Stoyanov, 2005b). A study in the peroxydase spectra of Phelipanche is done (Stoyanov & Stoyanova, 2007). Particular chorological data from the Balkan countries are collected.
During the last 15-20 years of economical and political turmoils in the Balkans, the economical activities (agriculture, industry etc.) in many Balkan countries were seriously diminished, many populated areas were abandoned. The large state farms, which once existed were destroyed and a vast number of scattered tiny private farms were created. In most of them, agriculture was returned back to “horse-power” (fig. 2) and lacks sufficient pathogen control.
During this period the wildlife forms reclaimed significant territories. The processes of association and integration of Balkan countries to the European Union during the last years brought relative economical stability. The economical revival is associated with reclaiming of abandoned lands for agriculture and livestock farming. On the other hand many abandoned villages are in process of rapid conversion to tourist centers. However, these processes outran the efforts of researchers supported by programs like Nature-2000 etc. to appraise and categorize the biodiversity in affected areas and to propose a balance that will make economic expansion safe for unique species and protect their habitats. Therefore, one of the main activity of the proposal will be to study biodiversity in broomrapes in Balkans and to map habitats of unique and relict species which have to be preserved.
On the other hand, several broomrape species parasitize important crops (tomato, potato, tobacco, eggplant, faba bean, vetch, lentil, peanut, Brassica spp., sunflower, carrot, celery and parsley (Goldwasser and Kleifeld, 2002), thus causing tremendous agricultural losses in many regions of the world (Joel, 2000, Musselman, 1994). For example, Phelipanche ramosa and Phelipanche mutelii are serious problems in tobacco-producing European countries, where those two species cause serious reduction (up to 40%) in tobacco yields (Slavov et al., 2001, Tchalakov et al., 1991, Wegmann, 1998). Heavy yield losses in sunflower production are reported in southern Europe and Mediterranean areas attributed to parasitism by Orobanche cumana (Shindrova et al., 1998). Seeds of broomrapes can survive under optimal conditions for many years and can build a soil reservoir that can serve as source for re-emergence of harmful broomrape species. Therefore, the second activity of the project will be to study the distribution of (potentially) dangerous parasitic weeds in agro-ecosystems and to assess the risks.
The third aim of the project is to use a combination of modern techniques – i.e. molecular taxonomy tool, GPS coordinates etc. in order to create detailed map of the distribution of broomrape species in Balkans accompanied by assessment of the risks for agro-ecosystems.
Budget:
NATO can offer up to 5000 Euro for each participating country. Additionally about 2000 Euro (total) could be offered to NATO-partner countries for small equipments and consumables.
| Item Type: | Project |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Agricultural Sciences > Agricultural biotechnology |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Agriculture |
| Depositing User: | Ljupco Mihajlov |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Apr 2014 10:21 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Apr 2014 10:21 |
| URI: | https://eprints.ugd.edu.mk/id/eprint/9816 |
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