Evaluation of the Production Diversity of some Cowslip Populations (Primula veris L.) in the Territory of Kosovo

As one of the most important aromatic and medicinal plants, that are grown in the territory of Kosovo, cowslip (Primula veris L.), has an increasing demand in the domestic and foreign markets for use in the pharmaceutical industry [1]. Given the importance of this medicinal plant, during last years there has been a tendency to change  from the collection of the wild plants in nature, to the cultivation of some cowslip populations which have high parameters  in the production of flowers, and roots also. In this context, are studied 20 cowslip populations, collected in the two main regions of the country, respectively in the eastern part (Rrafshi i Kosoves), and in the western part (Rrafshi i Dukagjinit). Plant populations collected in their natural habitat, were placed in a comparative trial in the open field in the village of Glloboçica of the Kaçanik area in Kosovo. The experiment was set up in three replications, with 20 variants (populations) distributed randomly. The study was conducted for two years (2017-2018). The production of fresh and dry flower mass, has been measured for each population and for each year, and at the end, an average yield for each population has been calculated. Analyzed data,  show that there is a high diversity among populations in terms of flower  production (fresh  and dry mass). Populations with the highest production are those that are collected  in the  “Rrafshi i Dukagjinit”, in “Rroshkodol 1”location, and the population collected in “Stankaj 2”, with  respectively 951.03 kg / ha and 906.9 kg / ha fresh mass, while in the “Rrafshi i Kosoves” the populations collected  in “Globocica” and “Izvor” locations, with respectively 1058 kg / ha and 905 kg / ha fresh mass.

Keywords: Population, diversity, dry mass, fresh mass, randomized distribution.