Recovery, Characterization, Safeguard and Valorisation of Pulses, Cereals and Forage Species

Dear Colleagues,

Pulses, cereals and forage species are three cornerstones of agriculture, on a global scale. The progressive diffusion of intensive agricultural practices occurred in the XX century, and this has produced deep modifications of agricultural practices and agrarian landscapes. Pulses, cereals and forage landraces are well adapted to delimited environments, and have been replaced with a reduced number of improved varieties, which are able to grow in a relatively wide array of environmental conditions. Generally, these varieties assure higher yields and incomes, but require a higher use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, with consequent detrimental effects on the environment. As a consequence of landrace replacement, agrarian landscapes have experienced deep changes from cultivation, side by side with different species of the past, to the extensive monocultures of the present. Finally, the diffusion of improved varieties generated a drastic reduction of genetic diversity, with each species belonging to pulses, cereals and forage species. All these factors constitute serious constrains to take on the new challenges, such as climatic changes, soil erosion, desertification etc., and the development of sustainable models for the future of the Earth. The necessity of assuring sufficient food of high nutritional quality for future generations requires the reconsideration of agricultural practices, as well as the revaluation of those landraces still under cultivation or stored in national and international gene banks. They are a precious source of useful genes that breeders can use to develop new varieties, designed to be managed with a high level of sustainability, assuring that the world population has food of a high nutritional value. These goals are becoming an ever more pressing need. In this frame, it is urgent that scientists devoted great attention towards a holistic reconsideration of the underutilized potentialities of the germplasm of the basic species for human and animal nutrition, such as pulses, cereals and forage species. The goal of this Special Issue of Sustainability is to collect studies that illustrate innovative strategies or case studies able to produce the target species in a sustainable way; in a way that does not compromise their potentialities for use by future generations.

Prof. Dr. Angela R. Piergiovanni
Guest Editor

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• agricultural practices
• agrobiodiversity conservation
• autochthonous germplasm safeguard
• breeding strategies
• food security
• genetic erosion
• landrace management
• sustainable food and feed production