Crop Improvement

Crop Improvement
    Germplasm Collections
    • The earlier collections made during 1930s totalling 1,462 were of indigenous origin from seeds collected from vigorous, disease resistant Arabica and Robusta plants from various estates. This included many putative hybrids such as Kents, Coorgs, 5.26 and 5.31 (both Liberica x Arabica origin) and Devamachy hybrid Robusta x Arabica origin).Collection of exotic germplasm was started in 1953 and introductions were made from all coffee growing countries including Ethiopia, the homeland of coffee. Early introduc¬tion of Robusta coffee was from Sri Lanka and Indonesia, although later introductions were made from Costa Rica, Uganda, Madagascar and Ivory Coast. The germplasm collections were maintained in the gene bank of Central Coffee Research Institute, Balehonnur. They were:
    • C. arabica: About 280 varieties, cultivars and selections
    • C. canephora: 21 exotic collections including 3 varieties and one sub-variety
    • Other Species: 18 species belonging to the genus Coffea and closely related genus Psilanthus.

    Hybrid lines
    • Coffee lines and hybrid lines showing varying degrees of resistance to leaf rust were intro¬duced from Central Rust Research Centre, Portugal

    Hybrido-de-Timor:
    • A spontaneous hybrid of C. canephora x C. arabica from Timor Islands was intro¬duced, whereas Catimor: Caturra x hybrids-de-Timor; Villa Sarchi x Hibrido-de-Tirrior and Catirnor x Catuai (Caturra x Mundo Novo) were also collected.

    Interspecific hybrids:     C. Congensis x C. canephora; C. liberica x C. eugenioides
    • The hybrids resembled Arabica in cup quality and possessed tolerance to drought and rust.
    • Varieties: The selections and introductions were further improved by employing pure-line breeding, intervarietal crossing, back-crossing and interspecific hybridization. The selections were released for cultivation after zonal assessment.

    Arabica Varieties
    • Selection 1 (S 288): This variety is a tetraploid hybrid derived from S-26 which is supposed to be a progeny of natural cross between' C. liberica x C arabica. It is resistant to leaf rust race I and II. Though this is a high-yielder with quality similar to Arabica, seed abnormalities are very frequent. However, because of its wide adaptability to varied agroclimatic conditions, it is still being cultivated in some areas.
    • Selection 3 (S-795): It is a cross-bred line of S-288 x Kents. It has bold fruits and seeds of good quality. The variety is resistant to race I and II of leaf rust. It has a yield potential of 700-1,200 kg clean coffee/ha with 75%; “A” grade and cup quality 5-6.
    • Selection 5: It "is derived from a cross between Devamachy x S-881 (wild Arabica from Rurne Sudan. Devamachy is a spontaneous hybrid of Robusta x Arabica spotted in Coorg, It has small, oblong, leathery leaves and oblong fruits and seeds. It has an yield potential of 900 to 1,100kg clean coffee/ha.
    • Selection 6: A hybrid between S-274 (Robusta) x Kents. Its plants are larger with Robusta type branching. Fruit is medium to bold with cup quality similar to Arabica. It has an yield potential of 900 to -1,000 kg clean coffee/ha with high “A” grade beans.
    • Selection 7: Derived from San Ramon (a dwarf Arabica variety from Columbia) crosses. San Ramon was crossed with S-1406 to obtain Selection 7.1. Selection 7.2 is a cross between dwarfs of 7.1 x Agaro. This hybrid when crossed with Hybrido-de-Timor, Selection 7.3 was obtained. Selection 7.3 shows high resistance to leaf rust. Its plants are dwarf.
    • Selection 8: It is derived through pure-line selection of Hybrido-de-Timor (HDT). It shows the highest resistance to leaf rust. It produces drooping branches, bears moder¬ately bold fruits with quality similar to Arabica.
    • Selection 9: Cross-bread line of Hibrido-de-Timor x Tafarikela, its plants are drought hardy. Bean is medium to bold. Nearly 70% of the plants in the progeny are resistant to rust.
    • Selection 10 (Caturra crosses): Caturra is a'dwaf’ type in Arabica. Some crosses of Catura with S 795, Cioccie and Hibrido-de-Timor show resistance to many races of rust.
    • Selection 11: Progeny of C. liberica x C. eugenoides. Its plants show field resistance to rust and drought hardiness.
    • Cauvery: It is derived from Catimor lines which is a cross between Caturra and Hibrido-de-Timor. The plants are dwarf and highly suitable for high-density planting. It shows high degree of synchronised flowering, fruit set and fruit ripening. It shows a high yield potential of 1,000 to 2,000 kg clean coffee/ha. It produces more A grade coffee with superior cup quality.

    Chandragiri coffee
    • It is a newly released coffee in 2007-08 by Coffee Board with the original source from Portugal .It was introduced in the year 1975 to CCRI Balehonnur from Portugal. Farm trials and intensive research trials were taken up at CCRI Balehonnur.
    Features:
      • Bushy growth with slightly bigger leaves than Cauvery coffee
      • Bigger sized berries: It produces 25 per cent bigger sized berries compared to other varieties.
      • Resistant to leaf rust: Lower (5 to 7 %) leaf rust incidence in this variety is reported compared to other varieties (20 to 40 %).
      • Tolerant to drought
       
    Robusta Varieties
    • Coffea canephora was introduced to India after the appear¬ance of leaf rust in Arabica. Now, it has become popular as a cultivated species of coffee. Robusta coffee is highly cross-pollinated and high-yielding selections were recom¬mended for cultivation. Sel-lR (S-274): This is a single plant progeny giving 1,400-2,500 kg clean coffee/ha. It can come up even at lower elevations and shows high resistance to leaf rust Growth is vigorous but with shallow root system.

    • Its fruits are bold giving 43% “A” grade coffee. Sel-2R (S-270): This also is a single plant progeny selection Robusta giving high yield but fruits are not as bold as in Sel-lR. Sel-3 R: An interspecific hybrid between C. congensis and C. canephora with back crossed to C. canephora. C. congensis is a native of Congo in Africa, showing compact plant size, better quality and lower caffeine content. The hybrid showed bush size of congenesis, fruits as in Robusta with low-caffeine content and quality of cogenesis. A dwarf mutant of this hybrid population has been recently spotted in Wynad.

Last modified: Sunday, 1 April 2012, 6:24 PM