Coffee

Coffee
    • Eucoffea includes most of the useful species of the genus. Coffea arabica, Coffea canephora and Coffea liberica are some of the species that found their place into commercial cultivation in India. The basic genome in the genus coffea is x = 11. In Eucoffea, all species are diploids with 2n = 22 except C. arabica (2n= 44) which is tetraploid.
    • Arabica Coffee: The C.arabica is a small tree with dark green leaves. The flower buds are produced during October – March and flowers blossom 9-10 days after the receipt of blosoom showers. Arabica is self fertile. The fertilized ovary grows into a fruit in 8-9 months.
    • Robusta Coffee: The Coffea canephora is bigger tree than Arabica. Flowers per clusters are more. It is a lowland coffee with wider geographic distribution. It grows under relatively more open and humid conditions than Arabica.
    • Tree Coffee: The Coffea liberica is a large bearing big broad, dark green and leathery leaves. The flowers and fruits are larger and take one year to mature. The ripe fruits are yellow to reddish- brown in colour.

    Origin
    • Arabica coffee: Ethiopia – In a place called Caffa.
    • It occurs naturally in forests between 450 to 600 m elevation (1400 to 1800 ft elevation)
    • Robusta coffee = Of Central African origin
    • Liberica coffee: Cultivated almost at sea level in Liberia.

    Coffee Research in India
    • 1892 : UPASI (United Planters Association of South India was organized to tackle various problems of coffee industry
    • 1925 : By the efforts of Dr. L. C. Coleman ( Then Director of Agriculture) Coffee Experiment Station ( CES) was started at Balehonnur, with following objectives;
    • To breed rust resistant selections
    • To undertake research on control of pests and diseases
    • 1938 : Release old arabica selections (S-288 and S-333) from CES
    • 1946 : Coffee Experiment Station was taken over by Coffee Board and established Central Coffee Research Institute (CCRI)

    Substations and regional stations to tackle regional problems in coffee
    • Sub Stations at Chettalli, Coorg Dist.
    • Regional Coffee Research Stations, At
    • Chintapalli, RV Nagar (Raghavendra Nagar), AndraPradesh,
    • Chundale, Kalpatta, Kerala – For Robusta Coffee
    • Thandikudi, Palani Hills, T.N.
    • Diphu, Assam

Last modified: Thursday, 21 June 2012, 10:42 AM