Crop Type: Open field crop
Breeding system: Predominantly autogamous
‘Farro’ is an Italian ethnobotanical concept (Szabó and Hammer 1996) and applies to three ‘hulled’ (or ‘free-threshing’) wheat taxa: Einkorn (Triticum monococcum subsp. monococcum), Emmer (T. turgidum subsp. dicoccum) and Spelt (T. aestivum subsp. spelta). Generally, free-threshing is an important trait to consider as it relates to an easy, almost spontaneous separation of the seeds from the remains of the flower (van Slageren and Payne 2013).
T. turgidum subsp. dicoccum (emmer) is currently cultivated in many Mediterranean countries, especially in difficult agronomic conditions, and used as food as well as animal feed. Emmer is used to produce bread, biscuits, pasta and beer; the whole grain is also used to prepare soups. In Italy, emmer cultivation is based on landraces that show good agronomic performance and environmental adaptability and originated by continuous on-farm conservation. In general, the emmer wheat can compete well with weeds and its adaptability allows its cultivation on areas characterised by poor soils, so that it can be also cultivated under low-input agronomic systems. It is a predominantly autogamous crop with an estimated outcrossing rate around 3-4 %.
References- Szabó AT, Hammer K (1996) Notes on the taxonomy of farro: Triticum monococcum, T. dicoccon and T. spelta. In: Padulosi S, Hammer K, Heller J (eds) Hulled Wheats. Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Hulled Wheats. International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, Castelvecchio, Tuscany, Italy, pp 2–40
- van Slageren M, Payne T (2013) Concepts and nomenclature of the Farro wheats, with special reference to Emmer, Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccum (Poaceae). Kew Bull 68:477–494. doi: 10.1007/s12225-013-9459-8