CATIE promotes new trial to evaluate its elite coffee hybrids

• Project aims to measure productivity, disease resistance, and adaptation to adverse climatic conditions.

As part of its commitment to innovation and sustainability, CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) presents a novel trial for the evaluation of its elite coffee hybrids.

This initiative, developed in a diversified agroforestry system, seeks to study the agronomic performance of these high-quality coffees; we are talking about the Esperanza, Milenio, and Centroamericano varieties. This project will not only evaluate their productivity but also their resistance to rust and their ability to adapt to abiotic stresses such as droughts and high temperatures.

The trial is located in a plot designed with a biodiverse vision, where coffee shares space with food crops such as banana and coconut. This approach promotes a balance between production and environmental conservation, using native trees like laurels and cedars for shade, along with melina, a tree species that complements the agroforestry system.

Luis Pocasangre, CATIE’s general director, highlighted the importance of this trial for the scientific and producer community: “We want not only to understand the behavior of these hybrids under different conditions but also to offer a space for interested producers to get to know them firsthand here on our campus, at 624 meters above sea level in the particular conditions of Turrialba.”

Additionally, the trial involves the active participation of intern students from institutions such as the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and the Autonomous University of Chapingo in Mexico, who are involved in various stages of the research.

Jean Piero Borja, an Agronomy Engineering student at UCR, is one of the young researchers currently interning at CATIE. “I am working on this project that aims to establish an agroforestry system with the most commercially important F1 hybrids of CATIE, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to learn and contribute to this important research,” Borja said.

The trial, in addition to generating valuable scientific information, will be part of CATIE’s coffee route, a tourist and educational tour that will cover the International Coffee Collection and allow foreign producers and students to learn about the advances in hybrid development up close.

International Coffee Collection is a world heritage

CATIE’s International Coffee Collection, recognized by the FAO as a World Heritage, houses more than 2,000 accessions and is the second most diverse in Latin America. With open access to producers, universities, and research institutes, this unique collection outside Africa safeguards invaluable genetic diversity.

As part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of this collection, the Scientific Congress “The state of the art of coffee production in America, Asia, and Africa” will be held from December 3 to 5. The congress will feature international experts, such as Geoffrey Hawtin, winner of the 2024 World Food Prize, as the guest of honor.

The congress will not only be a space to share scientific knowledge but also a platform to integrate the practical experience of producers and share the research, projects, and trials carried out by the institution for the benefit of coffee throughout the region.