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Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter, 2002, No._132 43

Figure 2. Fruits, young stem tops and cirri (called 'tenerumi') Figure 3. Capsu les of a rare landrace of cotton stili grown
of 'cucuzza longa' a local type of bottle-gourd (Lagenaria on Favignana , but only for family uses and ornamental
siceraria subsp. asiatica) (in a marketplace of Favignana). purposes.

Sicilian areas (e.g. Caltanisetta and Catania districts) the the history ofcotton in south ltaly suggest that a specific collect-
'tenerurni' are the main products ofbottle-gourd cultivation, and ing rnission should be arranged to find and safeguard the ulti-
flowers are eliminateci to increase their yield.Specific varieties of mate Sicilian cotton germplasm before its extinction.
eggplants were observed, eachused for typicallocal recipes, such
as the 'longarine' with longfruits for the 'caponata' dish and the In the 'la Piana' area of Favignana, many abandoned tufa
round fruit types fora number ofother culinary specialities. quarries are used for cultivation of vegetables and fruit trees
such as citrus fruits, figs, peaches (including the old nectarine
Old landraces of tornato, the 'pizzutello' or 'puntidda' (a 'usbergo spaccatello'), plum-trees (with many landraces such as
round and small type with yellow or red fruits good for storage), 'longarine' and 'occhio di bue'), pears, apricots, Japan medlars,
the rare 'cannatella' (a longfruit type rarely grown becauseof the walnuts and pomegranates (Figure4). In the 'il Bosco' area, other
tendency ofits fruits to split at ripening) and the 'u primintiu', fruit trees are grown, suchasolives, common oranges ('brasiliane'
used for storage after boiling, were collected. and 'vaniglia dolce'), white and black ('Ceuso niuru')mulberries,
the table grapes 'cardinale' and 'lacrima di Maria' (with long
Other vegetable landraces the farmers shared with us were fruits) and the wine grapes 'grillo', 'nave' and 'u' bascedda' (with
celery ('accina'), carrot ('pastinaca' and the diuretic type very small fruits, white or black).
'piscialettu' sownat the end ofAugustand harvested inJanuary),
fennel, chicory, endive('nivia' and 'scarola'),cauliflower, sprouting The average age of local farmers is 75 years and they repre-
broccoli ('marzutello'), spinach,lettuce,watermelon, peppers (with sent the relicts of a large farrning cornmunity which existed
a wide variabilityin the fruit morphology), spinach beet ('giiri' or previously on the island. Most of the farmers visited by the
'giira'), basi! ('baciricò'), onion (big bulbs stored interlaced) and collecting team had no successors, and with their disappearance
garlic (with small bulbs). Other old local crops observed but not alllocalknowledge and the local genetic resources ofcrop plants
collected were artichoke ('fimrninedda') and sweetpotato ('patata will vanish.Ali farmers visited were very willing to share infor-
americana'), consumed fried and ina ragout. mation about local names and uses of different crops, and
shared seeds from their seed supplies with the collecting team.
Amongpulses, onlypeas ('a pisedda') and faba beans (e.g. Thesteadydecrease inagriculture was suddenly accelerateci two
the black'quarantina' varietyharvested in Marchand the 'fava di years ago when the European Union defined teclmicalstandards
S. Pantaleo' harvested onemonth later) are stili widely cultivated
in the island, together with fewlentilsand green beans. Up to the Figure 4. One of the many abandoned tufa quarries typically
1960s grass pea ('checchine', Lathyrus sativus L.) and chickpea used on Favignana for cultivation of vegetables and fruit trees.
were also cultivated here and, according to old farmers, during
poor years bread was made using their seeds. The two very rare
accessions of cotton (here called 'u cuttuni'and 'mattola') col-
lected merit a specialnote (Figure3). Cotton (Gossypium herbaceum
L.) was introduced to Sicilyin the ninth century by the Arabs. On
Favignana, the ancient and traditional cultivation of cotton{par-
ticularly resistent to salt water and sometimes used locally for
forage before its flowering) ended completely in 1950.However,
this mission discovered two farmers who stili growplants belong-
ing to the old local varieties for family uses and for ornamental
purposes. In 1985, Harnmer et al. (1986) collected from some
Sicilian house gardens rare relic plants of cotton used for local
production offibre and as medicinal plants.These findings and