Disseminating improved coffee varieties for sustainable production

Description

Although coffee is one of the most valuable agricultural commodities of the world, it is an orphan crop in relation to investment in plant breeding. An efficient system to develop, introduce and propagate improved coffee varieties is required to place productive, attractive and affordable plants at farmers’ disposal. The chapter describes the rationale of developing and propagating new coffee varieties, presenting a strategy to increase efficiency of coffee production without compromising the quality of results. The chapter considers the physiological constraints of coffee variety development, the legal aspects of plant or seed shipments and the protection of the breeder’s rights within national or international systems. The chapter also includes case studies on statistical methods applied to multi-location trials. The chapter presents some trends for the future and recent initiatives that may be able to accelerate the development and deployment of genetic innovation at farmer level.

Table of contents

1 Introduction 2 General strategy for validation of varieties 3 Physiological and organizational constraints 4 Statistical methods for multi-location and farmer trials 5 Case studies 6 Propagation methods 7 Legal aspects 8 Conclusion 9 Future trends 10 Where to look for further information 11 References