Agricultural, socio-economic, and cultural relevance of crop wild relatives, in particular food legume landraces, in Northern Africa

Food legumes, such as cowpea [Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata (L.) Walp.], and peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) are important crops in developing countries of the tropics and subtropics, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Central and South America, and in some temperate areas, including the Mediterranean region and the southern states of the USA. Cowpea and peanut seeds possess high nutritive value. The plants are well adapted to grow under high temperature, drought and low soil fertility owing to their nitrogen fixation ability and their potential to form effective symbiotic association. Therefore, cowpea and peanut can play an important role in sustainable agricultural development, particularly in the Maghreb and sub-Saharan regions, where drought and salinity frequently limit crop production. Here, ongoing projects launched in recent years are described, whose aims are to define a dynamic conservation strategy and a reasoned exploitation of the genetic diversity embedded in food legume landraces collected across the Algerian territory. The main results are presented concerning the prospection, collection and conservation of local populations and ecotypes of food legumes, broad bean, chickpea, cowpea and peanut - and rhizobacterial strains associated with them, the behaviour of plant-rhizobia systems in front of water and salt stress, and the development of screening test to identify drought/salinity tolerant associations.