National Fig Collection
The Departmentof Olive and Horticultural Crops in Kalamata, which belongs to the Institute of Olive Tree, Subtropical Crops and Viticultureof ELGO - DIMITRA, is the national conservator of the fig varieties, which are registered in the national catalog. The Fig Collection, located in the region Eva (Messinia) since the early 1980s, currently has about 45 varieties of Greek, Cypriot, Italian, Spanish and Turkish origin. The fig varieties that exist in the Collection cover the needs of producers and consumers for figs with different quality characteristics and with different ripening periods. More specifically, in the Collection there are varieties which produce one main crop every year (e.g.VasilikaMelissi, Livano), produce two cropsevery year (e.g. Gentile Bianco, Dottato), with white skin color (e.g.LefkaMegalaAndrousis, AspraKlirou), with colored skin (e.g. VasilikaMavra, Brogiotto Nero), for fresh consumption (e.g. Mission, Bazanata), for dry consumption (Kalamon, Kymis, Smyrnaiki), as well as there are three wild fig varieties (necessary for pollination). It is worth mentioning that the relocation of the existing Collection is in progress, in combination with its enrichment with other fig varieties, in a new area of about 20 acres in the area of Velika (Messinia), in order to finally create a new Fig Collection that will include about 100 varieties.