Seed production and characterization of two local varieties of carrot: Bastinaca di San Vito and Pestanaca di Sant’Ippazio.

Bastinaca di San Vito and Pestanaca di Sant'Ippazio are two local varieties of carrot from two Apulian municipalities (Polignano a mare and Tiggiano, respectively). These are, therefore, “variable populations, however well identifiable, and usually has a local name. They have not been the subject of d program of genetic improvement, are characterized by specific adaptation to the environmental and growing conditions of a given area, and are closely associated with the customs, knowledge, habits, dialects, and recurrences of a human population that has developed it or continues its cultivation”. Since ancient times, local varieties have been mainly reproduced by resorting to self-production of seeds in order to obtain propagation material to be used for the following year and reproduce they indefinitely. Even today, this practice is of fundamental importance for local varieties also in consideration of the current seed regulations which prevent the marketing of the seed of those varieties that have not certain genetic and agronomic characteristics. The present work aims to describe the seed self-production techniques of these two local varieties of carrot, evaluating the agronomic aspects, as well as the morphological and qualitative characteristics of the seed obtained, finally identifying any critical points for this delicate phase of the production chain. A.