Multiple crops, North Macedonia, 2025
Introduction
In September 2025 a multi-crop collecting mission for crop wild relatives was conducted in North Macedonia, spanning five days. The mission was funded by the Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands (CGN) and carried out together with the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje.
A collaboration between the two institutes was initiated because Mitko Kostadinovski and Slavco Hristovski have good knowledge of the ecology of North Macedonia, have extensive field work experience and can help CGN find specific crop wild relatives. Approval for the collaborative activities, including the exchange of the collected materials under the SMTA of the ITPGRFA, was obtained from the relevant North Macedonian authorities.
The primary goal of the mission was for CGN to collect crop wild relatives throughout North Macedonia.
Collecting activities
The collecting team included three members and close to 1,000 km was travelled during the mission. Mitko and Slavco prepared a day-to-day itinerary with specific locations where species of interest could potentially be found.
Roughly, the route ran from Skopje via Štip to the southeastern border area with Bulgaria and Greece. From there the team travelled back to Prilep via Demir Kapija, and then returned to Skopje. The final leg went from Skopje to Struga, via Mavrovo National Park and Debar.
The prepared plan covered a larger area, but only part of it could be explored within the five days available for the mission.
Material sampled
In total, 150 accessions were collected, representing approximately 20 species belonging to 10 different crops. Only wild material was collected, with the exception of one clover accession collected from a pasture, which could represent a sown cultivar (although this is considered unlikely).
Lettuce was the largest group, representing almost one third of all accessions collected (Table 1). For the 29 Allium accessions it proved difficult to determine the exact species based solely on the dry seed heads. The material may represent as few as four or as many as eight different Allium species.
For each accession, passport data were recorded. Latitude and longitude were determined using the Organic Maps application (based on OpenStreetMap), and photographs were taken of plants in their natural environment.
Table 1. Accessions collected in North Macedonia in 2025.
| Botanical name | Number of accessions |
|---|---|
| Lactuca serriola | 28 |
| Lactuca viminea | 13 |
| Lactuca saligna | 6 |
| Cichorium intybus | 17 |
| Allium ampeloprasum | 9 |
| Allium rotundum | 6 |
| Allium scorodoprasum | 1 |
| Allium spp. | 13 |
| Asparagus verticillatus | 2 |
| Asparagus acutifolius | 2 |
| Anthriscus cerefolium | 2 |
| Diplotaxis tenuifolia | 9 |
| Trifolium pratense | 1 |
| Trifolium repens | 1 |
| Total | 150 |
Conclusion
This mission in North Macedonia has yielded 150 accessions of a number of crop wild relatives species. For the more common species (Lactuca, Cichorium and Daucus), the accessions from the 2025 mission combined with those from 2024 now provide a good geographic distribution across the country.
The northeastern and southwestern parts of North Macedonia remain underrepresented and could be targeted in future missions. The collaboration with the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje proved very effective. After successful multiplication by CGN, the collected material will become available to potential users.