The 2025 National Catalogue of Varieties for Portugal, covering agricultural and horticultural species, lists over 1,000 denominations.
The list is led by tomatoes, with 236 varieties including Benfica, Celestial, Mama Rosa, Yellow River, and Santorino.
Sunflower follows at 111 varieties, and maize at 110, including conservation varieties.
Melon (52), watermelon (49), pepper (47), annual ryegrass (41), sorghum (40), and onion (31) also feature prominently.
More than ten denominations are noted for zucchini (19), beans (16), alfalfa (15), muskmelon (14), perennial ryegrass (13), potato (12), chickpea (12), and pumpkin (11).
With fewer than ten but more than five denominations are species like common vetch (nine), tall fescue (nine), cereals (seven), turnip (seven), eggplant (seven), forage pea (eight), purple-flowered vetch (eight), soft wheat (seven), oats (six), little bean (six), cucumber (six), Portuguese cabbage (six), subterranean clover (six), durum wheat (five), white clover (five), Persian clover (five), and chickling vetch (five), along with cabbage (five).
Below this range are, for example, coriander (four), Sudan grass (four), serradella (four), bladder clover (four), stinkweed (four), black oat (three), hybrid ryegrass (three), Egyptian clover (three), biserrula (three), hybrids from crossing Triticum and Secale species (three), field serradella (three), balansa clover (three), crimson clover (three), broccoli (three), and cowpea (three).
Two denominations are registered for red vetch, chickling, false oat-grass, white lupin, yellow lupine, yellow-flowered trefoil, rose clover, squarrose clover, hybrid pumpkin, swine pumpkin, carrot, savoy cabbage, pea, and bean – conservation variety.
This year’s catalogue also includes many species with a single denomination, such as Green Champ scallion, Doce Maria rape kale, Quartett spinach, and Algarve broad bean.
The production, certification, and marketing of most regulated agricultural and horticultural seed species require their registration in the relevant catalogues.
For inclusion in the national catalogue, varieties must undergo official tests for distinctness, uniformity, and stability, and, for agricultural species, tests for agronomic value and usage.
