Yield potential and ecophysiological traits of the Altamurano linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.), a landrace of southern Italy

Altamurano is a linseed landrace of southern Italy. Its area of origin is characterised by typical Mediterranean climate. Traditionally, Altamurano is spring sown, and mainly used as a feed integrator for animals. This landrace was evaluated during 2 years within varietal (16 modern varieties) and sowing date (15 sowings, from October to April, with ‘Antares’ as a control) trials. Growth analysis was carried out on two sowings. Seed yield was slightly lower than modern varieties, with advantages in late sowings. Reproductive efficiency, mean seed weight, harvest index and oil percentage were often higher than in modern cultivars. Altamurano was also characterised by early flowering, low vegetative growth, long leaf area duration, high light use efficiency during early grain filling phase, and relatively long grain filling period. All these features are connected with its adaptation to spring sowings in Mediterranean areas, characterised by early spring drought. Despite the decrease of its cultivation area from about 400 to less than 100 ha in the last 10 years, Altamurano is still present in the more traditional farms of the area as a heritage of past growing systems and historical adaptation to the environment.