Is Barnī, a date palm cultivated in the oasis of al-‘Ulā, a true-to-type cultivar or an ethnovariety? Arguments from ethnographic and genetic data

Production of a report for Afalula (French Agency for the Development of al-Ula):
Is Barnī, a date palm cultivated in the oasis of al-‘Ulā, a true-to-type cultivar or an ethnovariety? Arguments from ethnographic and genetic data
Battesti, Vincent, Muriel Gros-Balthazard, Matthieu Breil, Sarah Ivorra, Sylvie Ferrand & Jean-Frédéric Terral
Project — Ethnographic, genetic, and morphometric analyses of the date palm agrobiodiversity in al-‘Ulā oasis
CNRS & IRD, Paris & Montpellier, 17 p.
February 2^nd, 2021

\confidential report\

– Highlights:
Barnī is the main variety of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) grown in the oasis of al-‘Ulā and its region. The aim of this study is to check the status of this date palm and precisely to identify whether it is a true-to-type cultivar or an ethnovariety, i.e. if its local identity, given by the farmers, corresponds to a unique genetic identity (and therefore locally reproduced always vegetatively) or if it refers to a multiplicity of genetic forms. Following whole genome resequencing, our population genetic analyses show that Barnī is a true-to- type cultivar in al-‘Ulā and nearby palm groves.