What does landrace mean?
A landrace is a locally developed variety of a cultivated plant or domesticated animal that has been shaped over generations by environmental conditions and human selection. The term is especially common in agriculture and plant breeding, where it distinguishes traditional, locally adapted varieties from varieties produced through standardized commercial breeding programs. For example, a farmer might maintain a landrace of maize whose seed has been selected over many harvests for resilience to local drought and pests. Landraces are valued in conservation and crop-improvement work because they may contain useful traits, such as disease resistance or the ability to thrive in poor soils. The word can sound technical, but its central idea is simple: a breed or variety with a long-standing relationship to a particular place and community.
nounA regional variety of a domesticated plant or animal that has been developed and maintained through local selection, often over generations. In agriculture and plant breeding, the term commonly refers to a locally adapted crop variety that is not the product of formal modern breeding.
- A locally developed and maintained breed or variety of a domesticated animal or cultivated plant, especially one adapted to a particular region's conditions.
"The farmer saved seed from the local landrace because it had proved resistant to the region's unusually dry summers."
"Researchers compared the drought tolerance of an old landrace with that of several modern commercial varieties."
"The region's traditional landrace of sheep is valued for its ability to thrive under harsh local conditions."
The regular plural is landraces; it is used when referring to multiple locally developed varieties.
"The archive contains detailed records of the region's wheat landraces."
A landrace carries the fingerprints of generations of local weather, pests, farmers, and preferences.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does landrace come from?
The English term was borrowed in the late nineteenth century from Dutch landras, a compound meaning land variety or land breed. It combines the native English word land with race in the older sense of a strain, kind, or lineage. Related English forms such as racial and racism descend from the same older lineage represented by race, although landrace developed a specialized agricultural meaning of its own.
How landrace is actually used
This is chiefly a specialist agricultural, botanical, and animal-breeding term. It can carry a positive connotation in discussions of biodiversity, traditional knowledge, and resilience, but it may also refer neutrally to any geographically developed variety.