Abstract:
Barley is one of the major cereal crops grown in Ethiopia. The diversity of barley landraces kept for
generations in Ethiopia is nowadays subject to genetic erosion. This is true in North Gondar highlands
of the country as well. This research was therefore initiated with the aim of studying the farm diversity
status of barley landraces in Debark, Dabat and Wogera districts. A total of 180 randomly selected
farmers from six villages were surveyed with a proportion of 30 farmers/village. Ecological models were
employed to analyze the level of diversity. Genetic erosion models were employed to estimate the level
of genetic erosion over a ten-year period of time. A total of 24 landraces were described by farmers of
the studied sites. Of these, 18 of them are still under cultivation although their area coverage is
declining from time to time. The landraces Abat gebs, Nech gebs and Tikur gebs were found to be the
most common and widely grown. Debark district was found to have the highest richness
(Margalef=2.45; Menhinick=1.43) followed by Wogera and Dabat districts. With regard to evenness as a
measure of Shannon diversity index, Wogera district (E=0.85) showed the highest diversity followed by
dabat (E=0.83) and debark (E=0.79). Simpson’s diversity index (D) also revealed the abundance of Nech
gebs (0.66), Abat gebs (0.6) and Tikur gebs (0.52). The landraces Demo kises, Goreneje, Chankirme,
Gabieaswelik, Amedo and Gero tal were found to be out of production in the last ten years and probably
eroded. Genetic erosion and genetic integrity over ten years (2006-2016) was found to be 25 and 75%,
respectively. The name given to landraces studied was found to be associated with certain
characteristics or situations. Thus, policy makers and researchers should give attention to
conservation of landraces of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) for better use of genetic resources.
