ISHS Acta Horticulturae 528: VII International Symposium on Grapevine Genetics and Breeding
SAFEGUARDING, CONSERVING AND VALORIZING THE GENETIC DIVERSITY IN VALAIS (SWITZERLAND) |
| Authors: | D. Maigre, J.-J. Brugger, P. Gugerli, M. Pont |
| Keywords: | clonal selection, sanitary selection, grapevine, local varieties, genetic diversity, conservation |
| Abstract:
Valais is the largest swiss viticultural region. Its favourable climate allows the growth of a rather large range of local or foreign varieties ranging in their ripening periods. Since a few years, an important prospecting work in the vineyards with a view to conserving grapevine genetic resources is being realized for local varieties or for old varieties formerly grown in this region. This work deals essentially with varieties which have a great interest from the qualitative point of view. Some of them, for instance Petite Arvine, Cornalin, Amigne, Humagne blanc are considered as being of indigenous origin. Humagne rouge however seems to have originated from the Aosta Valley (Italy). Other varieties are more widespread. Pinot noir and Pinot gris are represented in Valais by interesting varietal types and Savagnin blanc has been cultivated for centuries in Valais. Since a few years some of these original varieties have met a renewed interest and the surfaces cultivated tend to increase. The prospecting work on these few selected and often very virus infected ancient varieties began in 1992 in old vineyards. The aims were multiple: to save the genotypes and the genotypic variability inside the variety, to eliminate by ELISA-test the vines affected by severe virus diseases such as court-noué (GFLV, ArMV, RRV) or leafroll (GLRaV-1, GLRaV-2, GLRaV-3) and to quickly provide nurserymen with propagation material of improved quality, of mass selection type. In a second phase that is beginning now, a more thorough selection work of these varieties will be done according to the principles of classical clonal selection in order to obtain clones of good quality with regular and reasonable yields. | |
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