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Agriculture ìs not the oldest economie activity of Favignana; in
fact, it was imported in 1700 by one family of farmers from
Caltanisetta (Sicily) who, in a short time, started to cultivate fruit 'zabarinu' (Agave sisalana Perrine) to the island to produce im-
trees, vegetables, cereals and cotton (Cataliotti 1924). In a few
years, additional farms arose and the island became self-suffi-
cient, except for wheat, and later started to exportlemons, toma-
toes and cotton. The same author also cites the cultivation of
Indian figs, grapes, forage and saffron.
Levanzo
Before 1860 the few inhabitants of Levanzo stilllived ingrottoes
and only after that date was the town bui!t. The local economyìs
very poor and precarious because of lack of any desire for
progress. Today it is based on unorganized fishing, an almost
entirelyabandoned agriculture and a promìsing tourìsmindustry
limited by the lack of infrastructure. Formerly one third of
Levanzo (mainly the inner part, more protected from winds) was
cultivated with grapes and cereals (mainly oat, barley and the
durum wheat 'marzullo', 'biancoIella', 'tangarò' and 'russìa').
Nowadays, only some family gardens still exist andali the old
cultivated grounds are used for pasture fora few animals such
as sheep, pigs and chickens. The main reasons for the almost total
abandonment oflocal farms are the complete lack of water and
the emigration ofyoung people.
Marettimo
Marettimo ìs a mountainous and uneven island characterized
by Mesozoic rocks. Its naturai vegetation is very different from
the two other main Egadi islands due to a longer period of
geologie isolation (Brullo and Marcenò 1982). The island de-
rives its name from the wild time (Mare-timo-in Italian sea-
thyme). The most significant economie activity is fishing. Also,
in the past, agriculture was practiced only on a small scale in
the few fields dose to the town and around the most important
springs of Ceuso and Testa di Acqua. The most commonly
grown crops were: broad beans, cauliflowers, spinaches, beets,
barley, oat, wheat (almost completely abandoned because of
low yields), severa! fruit trees (e.g. grapes, figs, almonds,
peaches, pears, apples, olives, apricots, plums, cherries, carobs,
Indian figs), manna (fromFraxinus ornus L. var. rotundifolia
Willd.), 'sommacco' (Rhus coriaria L.) for tanning, the 'disa'
(Ampelodesmos mauritanicus [Poiret] Dur. et Sch.) and agave (to
obtain cords for binding) (Francini and Messeri 1956). Goats,
pigs, chickens and few donkeys were also bred. Nowadays,
agriculture is completely neglected and only a modest stock-
raising activity (mainly goats) still survives.
lslands ofStagnone and neighbouring
areas
The islands of Stagnone are a protected humid zone, and com-
prise the four islands of Isola Grande (1.19 km2), S. Pantaleo
(0.47 km2), S. Maria (0.23 km2) and the very small islet of La
Scuola (Figure 1).Today the islands are uninhabited except for
the two keeper farnilies on S.Pantaleo. Thìs last island holds the
Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter, 2002, No. 132 41
remains ofMotya, a Phoenician colonywell studied byWhitaker
(1921). This naturalist also introduced the cultivation of
proved cords for boats, replacing those made from hemp. Culti-
vation of that species ofagave continued until1955 when its fibre
was replaced by nylon (Fondazione Whìtaker 1995). In 1900,
about twenty landowners were stili presenton the island, but
their number was reduced to four by 1973. In the past, the
agriculture of S. Pantaleo was characterized by the use of
drought-resìstant varieties of tornato ('pomodoro seccagno' and
'pizzutello'), wheat ('russìa'), vines ('alberello') and broad beans
('fave di S. Pantaleo').
Results and discussion
In all, 184accessions were collected, of which 11Owill be stored,
in duplicate, in the genebanks of Bari and Gatersleben, 88 in
Saskatoonand 55 at DOPATA (Tab. 1). The sum ofthe acces-
sions storedin eachgenebankìsnot 184becausesome speciesare
cornmonly targeted by the four institutes while others not.
Egadi archipelago
Favignana
Recently (1986) a preliminary plant germplasm exploration on
Favignana and Marettimo was conducted by Hammer et al.
(1987). In that mission, rural emigration was not very visible on
Favignana, however stronggeneticerosion was observed incere-
als and less so in vegetable landraces. During the present collect-
ing missìon, an increased erosion of local crop germplasm was
observed, most of ali in garden crops. On Favignana, 98
landraces, mainly of cereals, pulses and vegetables, were col-
lected after a foundation study of the old farms stili producing
(Table1). Landraces of red oat (Avena byzantina C. Koch, usually
considered as subspecies of A. sativa), a cultivated oat with
adaptation to drought stress, corn ('annurigna', with red and
dark types, used in the past to prepare the typical'semolata' dìsh
and sometimes also bread) and somedurum wheat were the only
cereals stillcultivated. The cultivation of durum wheat, with its
old varieties 'senatoreCappelli', 'russìa', 'tangarò' (with verybig
spikes), had essentially ceased, since the milling industry disap-
peared from the island. Today wheat is used mainly to feed
chickens.Otherold wheat landraces, (probably ofbread wheat)
whichnolongerexistare: 'tripolina', 'biancolidda', 'Luigi bianco',
'bafforusso', 'serena','carrettera' and 'marzuddu'. However, two
accessions of durum wheat landraces and one of barley were
found and collected.
Sixty-five accessions ofvegetables were alsogathered. Squash
(Cucurbita moschata (Duch. ex Lam.) Duch. ex Poir., called
'cucuzza baffa') is used to prepare the traditionallocal dishes
'minestrone' and 'sugo alla morìsca'. Typically the 'cucuzza da'
frizzi' (C. pepo L.), two green and white Iandraces of vegetable
marrow are served fried. 'Cucuzza longa' a 1-2m long type of
bottle-gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl. subsp. asiatica
(Kob.) Heiser)is consumed on the ìsland both for fruits and for
young stem tops and cirri (called 'tenerumi') which remain after
pruning andare eaten boiled with pasta (Figure 2). In other