Wild or old-local forage grasses, fruit and berry, vegetable and cereal crops in the Arkhangelsk oblast

For more than a hundred years the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) has been conducting research in the territory of the Arkhangelsk Oblast. During this period 16 expeditions were carried out. The main aim of the research is to study cultivated plants and their wild relatives, old-local varieties of folk selection, primarily fodder, fruit, berry and vegetable, and also weed plants. The article reflects the main results of the work, obtained within the framework of expeditionary research of VIR in 2022 on mobilization of plant genetic resources in the Arkhangelsk Oblast. During the work the following tasks were solved: study of species composition of forage grasses, fruit and berry and vegetable crops in the northern districts of the Arkhangelsk Oblast (Onezhsky, Pinezhsky, Mezensky, Leshukonsky), collection of seed material of the studied samples of crops for introduction into the breeding process; replenishment of herbarium collection of wild relatives of cultivated plants (forage grasses, fruit and berry and vegetable crops). The species composition of meadow communities was analyzed. Samples of old-local fruit and berry crops, seeds of forage grasses were collected. The northern limits of distribution of Fragaria L. species were clarified. The obtained sample of six-row barley from Kimzha village is used for study and comparison with samples of the VIR collection. Apple samples of local selection of “Zhukovka” variety in the form of seedlings and cuttings were attracted to the collection in order to study and obtain adapted apple tree material for the Arkhangelsk region. The habitats and presence of stable and healthy populations of clover in the floodplain of the Mezen River were confirmed. Earlier collections were made here in 1922. Recommendations for further research are given. The great potential of using the homesteads of the Arkhangelsk Oblast to expand the composition of old-local varieties of fodder vegetable, fruit and berry crops collected for scientific purposes is revealed.