colombian leaf rust resistant coffee
DESCRIPTION
http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/ Colombian Leaf Rust Resistant Coffee The story of Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee is inspiring. Leaf rust is a fungal disease that has devastated coffee plantations as far back as the mid to late 19th century. Those with an interest in history may know that Sri Lanka (old Ceylon) used to be a coffee producer until the leaf rust wiped out all production after which the nation switched to growing tea. The coffee leaf rust spread from the East Indies to South Asia and Africa and eventually to the new world. Today a plague of coffee leaf rust threatens the livelihoods of coffee growers and workers throughout Central America. Fortunately for the coffee producing nation of Colombia, the workers at the Cenicafé have found a cure. Cenicafé is a research organization funded by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation - the folks who bring you Juan Valdez coffee. In the early 1970’s coffee leaf rust was found in the Americas. In the early 1980’s Cenicafé started work on producing a Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee. The Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee comes in two varieties, Colombian and Castillo. The first is a cross between an old Colombian variety, Caturra, and a rust-resistant strain from Southeast Asia, the Timor hybrid. Castillo is an offshoot of further cross breeding of the first Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee strain. Replanting with Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee in Colombia has reduced the incidence of leaf rust from 40% to 5% from 2011 to 2013. Avoid, Treating, and Curing Leaf Rust Some time back we wrote about how leaf rust kills organic coffee crops. The concern for organic coffee growers is that when the disease has progressed too far there are only two choices. One is to spray everything sight with fungicides and the other is to dig out all of the plants, spray, wait, and replant. It is sad that the move to sun resistant coffee strains and dense planting has tended to make coffee leaf rust more prevalent. Warmer temperatures facilitate the growth of leaf rust, and so does crowding the plants. Growing plants in the shade inhibits coffee leaf rust because temperatures are lower and because fungi that grow on coffee plants in the shade tend to inhibit the growth of coffee leaf rust. A grower who wants to produce healthy organic coffee can grow his coffee in the shade and he can invest, bit by bit, in introducing Colombian rust resistant coffee strains, and others as they become available. But, for those growers who are currently hit the worst, there will typically be a three year wait before new plants reach maturity and start producing coffee.TRANSCRIPT
The story of Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee is
inspiring. Leaf rust is a fungal disease that has devastated
coffee plantations as far back as the mid to late 19th
century.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
Those with an interest in history may know that Sri
Lanka (old Ceylon) used to be a coffee producer until the
leaf rust wiped out all production after which the nation switched to growing
tea.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
The coffee leaf rust spread from the East Indies to South
Asia and Africa and eventually to the new world. Today a plague of coffee leaf rust threatens the livelihoods
of coffee growers and workers throughout Central
America.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
Fortunately for the coffee producing nation of
Colombia, the workers at the Cenicafé have found a cure.
Cenicafé is a research organization funded by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation - the folks who
bring you Juan Valdez coffee.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
In the early 1970’s coffee leaf rust was found in the
Americas. In the early 1980’s Cenicafé started work on
producing a Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee. The
Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee comes in two varieties,
Colombian and Castillo.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
The first is a cross between an old Colombian variety,
Caturra, and a rust-resistant strain from Southeast Asia, the Timor hybrid. Castillo is an offshoot of further cross
breeding of the first Colombian leaf rust resistant
coffee strain.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
Replanting with Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee in Colombia has reduced the incidence of leaf rust from 40% to 5% from 2011 to
2013.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
Avoid, Treating, and Curing Leaf Rust
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
Some time back we wrote about how
leaf rust kills organic coffee crops
. The concern for organic coffee growers is that when the disease has progressed too far there are only two
choices.By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
One is to spray everything sight with fungicides and the other is to dig out all of the
plants, spray, wait, and replant. It is sad that the
move to sun resistant coffee strains and dense planting has tended to make coffee leaf rust more prevalent.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
Warmer temperatures facilitate the growth of leaf rust, and so
does crowding the plants. Growing plants in the shade
inhibits coffee leaf rust because temperatures are lower and because fungi that grow on
coffee plants in the shade tend to inhibit the growth of coffee
leaf rust.By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
A grower who wants to produce
healthy organic coffee can grow his coffee in the shade and he can invest, bit by bit,
in introducing Colombian rust resistant coffee strains, and
others as they become available.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
But, for those growers who are currently hit the worst,
there will typically be a three year wait before new plants
reach maturity and start producing coffee.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
What Is the Gene?
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
What is the gene or what are the combinations of genes
that make the Timor variety from Southeast Asia resistant
to coffee leaf rust? Is it possible to find the gene and
insert it into the chromosomes of high quality
Arabica coffees?
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
This approach would likely result in a cure of the leaf rust problem even more so
than the breeding efforts that have produced Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee
strains.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
But, will the organic coffee drinking community drink a
coffee that has been genetically modified? This is a question for later times and
later articles.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/