Not all wheats are the same: selection and improvement of wheat in Portugal since early modern times (16th to 20th centuries)

This article examines the dissemination processes and geography of wheat species and varieties in Portugal between the 16th and the 20th centuries. Based on a wide range of sources, from monastic records to official agricultural reports and oral interviews, it is concluded that the conditions that shaped the traditional division between soft varieties in the north and hard varieties in the south had changed by the late 19th century. At that point, soft landraces thrived in the south, but were soon replaced by improved/hybridized varieties, many of which were imported. Thus, wheat landraces persisted only in the mountainous peripheral areas, due to the agroecological and socioeconomic context. It is also emphasized that Portugal did not lag the most central countries in terms of agricultural biotechnology development.