English

A Finnish landrace goat

Noun

landrace ‎(plural landraces)

1. (often attributive) Any local variety of a domesticated animal or plant species that has adapted over time to its ecological and cultural environment (including, in some cases, its work).
   • 1961, Breeds of Swine, Farmers' Bulletin No. 1263, US Department of Agriculture, page 7,

     One of the newer breeds of swine in the United States is the American Landrace. American Landrace hogs (figs. 19 and 20) are descendants of Danish Landrace hogs imported by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1934.

   • 2009, Pablo Eyzaguirre, Arwen Bailey, International case studies and tropical home gardens projects: offering lessons for a new research agenda in Europe, A. Bailey, Pablo B. Eyzaguirre, L. Maggioni, Crop genetic resources in European home gardens: Proceedings of a Workshop, page 1,

     First, many crop landraces in Europe are being lost without our even knowing what is being lost.

   • 2011, A. C. Newton, et al., Cereal Landraces for Sustainable Agriculture, Eric Lichtfouse, Marjolaine Hamelin, Philippe Debaeke, Mireille Navarrete (editors), Sustainable Agriculture, Volume 2, page 154,

     In both cases the morphological diversity within the oat accessions did not differ between landraces and modern cultivars.

Usage notes

There is some overlap between the terms landrace and breed. The former is sometimes used in cases where selective breeding was the initial source of differentiation. The term is also sometimes used in the names of breeds based on landraces, even though the breed is itself not considered a landrace. Breeds also sometimes retain the name of the landrace from which they derived.

Synonyms

• (any domesticated animal or plant adapted to its new environment): natural breed (animal), traditional breed (animal), traditional variety (plant)

Translations

See also

• autochthonous
• heirloom plant

Anagrams

• calendar