Strategies for Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Improvement as a New Crop in Colombia

Robusta coffee is mostly grown in Africa and Asia and parts of tropical America, but not yet in Colombia. The crop has potential in lowland areas of this traditional Arabica coffee producer. Compared to Arabicas grown in highland areas, the Robustas have more drought and heat tolerance. However,...

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Main Authors:	Campuzano Duque, Luis Fernando, Wohlgemuth Blair, Matthew
Format:	article
Language:	Inglés
Published:	Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute - MDPI 2025
Subjects:	Investigación agropecuaria - A50 Café Cultivo Diversidad genética (recurso) Tolerancia a las plagas Permanentes http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1731 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1972 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33952 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_14918
Online Access:	https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/10/1576 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12324/41154 https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12101576

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institution	Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria
collection	Repositorio AGROSAVIA
language	Inglés
topic	Investigación agropecuaria - A50 Café Cultivo Diversidad genética (recurso) Tolerancia a las plagas Permanentes http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1731 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1972 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33952 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_14918
spellingShingle	Investigación agropecuaria - A50 Café Cultivo Diversidad genética (recurso) Tolerancia a las plagas Permanentes http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1731 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1972 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33952 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_14918 Campuzano Duque, Luis Fernando Wohlgemuth Blair, Matthew Strategies for Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Improvement as a New Crop in Colombia
description	Robusta coffee is mostly grown in Africa and Asia and parts of tropical America, but not yet in Colombia. The crop has potential in lowland areas of this traditional Arabica coffee producer. Compared to Arabicas grown in highland areas, the Robustas have more drought and heat tolerance. However, they differ in flavor and have higher caffeine levels. With natural resistance to some of the major pests and diseases of other coffees, such as rust and berry borers, they thrive under harsh conditions. The genetic improvement of Robusta coffee requires the understanding of its genetic resources and a good breeding strategy. This review discusses the traits of interest and selection criteria for breeding and recommends methods of varietal development for Robusta in Colombia. Most of the traits of importance in breeding are quantitative and of low or intermediate heritability. Robusta is an outcrossing species and can suffer from inbreeding depression, so mass and recurrent selection are used, followed by the clonal propagation of best plants. Colombia has limited germplasm only from the Congolese group, so the SG1/Conilon and SG2 genotypes should be introduced with quarantine. Issues to address include the timing of flowering, asynchronous fruit maturation, chemical composition and sensory quality, as well as bean size. Variability for abiotic stress tolerance exists in Robusta genotypes and needs further study. New methods of breeding include hybrid development and recurrent selection. Having adapted varieties of Robusta coffee should promote production in Colombia, as it has in regions of Brazil, and would complement Arabica coffee for this traditional and major producer.
format	article
author	Campuzano Duque, Luis Fernando Wohlgemuth Blair, Matthew
author_facet	Campuzano Duque, Luis Fernando Wohlgemuth Blair, Matthew
author_sort	Campuzano Duque, Luis Fernando
title	Strategies for Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Improvement as a New Crop in Colombia
title_short	Strategies for Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Improvement as a New Crop in Colombia
title_full	Strategies for Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Improvement as a New Crop in Colombia
title_fullStr	Strategies for Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Improvement as a New Crop in Colombia
title_full_unstemmed	Strategies for Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Improvement as a New Crop in Colombia
title_sort	strategies for robusta coffee (coffea canephora) improvement as a new crop in colombia
publisher	Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute - MDPI
publishDate	2025
url	https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/10/1576 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12324/41154 https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12101576
work_keys_str_mv	AT campuzanoduqueluisfernando strategiesforrobustacoffeecoffeacanephoraimprovementasanewcropincolombia AT wohlgemuthblairmatthew strategiesforrobustacoffeecoffeacanephoraimprovementasanewcropincolombia
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spelling	RepoAGROSAVIA411542025-08-30T03:00:51Z Strategies for Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Improvement as a New Crop in Colombia Strategies for Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Improvement as a New Crop in Colombia Campuzano Duque, Luis Fernando Wohlgemuth Blair, Matthew Investigación agropecuaria - A50 Café Cultivo Diversidad genética (recurso) Tolerancia a las plagas Permanentes http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1731 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1972 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33952 http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_14918 Robusta coffee is mostly grown in Africa and Asia and parts of tropical America, but not yet in Colombia. The crop has potential in lowland areas of this traditional Arabica coffee producer. Compared to Arabicas grown in highland areas, the Robustas have more drought and heat tolerance. However, they differ in flavor and have higher caffeine levels. With natural resistance to some of the major pests and diseases of other coffees, such as rust and berry borers, they thrive under harsh conditions. The genetic improvement of Robusta coffee requires the understanding of its genetic resources and a good breeding strategy. This review discusses the traits of interest and selection criteria for breeding and recommends methods of varietal development for Robusta in Colombia. Most of the traits of importance in breeding are quantitative and of low or intermediate heritability. Robusta is an outcrossing species and can suffer from inbreeding depression, so mass and recurrent selection are used, followed by the clonal propagation of best plants. Colombia has limited germplasm only from the Congolese group, so the SG1/Conilon and SG2 genotypes should be introduced with quarantine. Issues to address include the timing of flowering, asynchronous fruit maturation, chemical composition and sensory quality, as well as bean size. Variability for abiotic stress tolerance exists in Robusta genotypes and needs further study. New methods of breeding include hybrid development and recurrent selection. Having adapted varieties of Robusta coffee should promote production in Colombia, as it has in regions of Brazil, and would complement Arabica coffee for this traditional and major producer. Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria - (AGROSAVIA) Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarrollo Rural - MADR United States Department of State Institute for International Educational Credits and Technical Studies - (ICETEX). The United States Department of Agriculture - (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture - (NIFA) Café-Coffea 2025-08-29T17:31:16Z 2025-08-29T17:31:16Z 2025-03 2025 article Artículo científico http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_2df8fbb1 info:eu-repo/semantics/article https://purl.org/redcol/resource_type/ART http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85 https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/10/1576 2077-0472 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12324/41154 https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12101576 reponame:Biblioteca Digital Agropecuaria de Colombia instname:Corporación colombiana de investigación agropecuaria AGROSAVIA eng Agriculture (Switzerland) 12 10 1 14 Bridson, D.; Verdcourt, B. Coffea. In Flora of Tropical East Africa: Rubiaceae; Part 2; Polhill, R.M., Ed.; Balkema: Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1988; pp. 703–723. Charrier, A.; Berthaud, J. Botanical classification of coffèe. 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Poisson, L.; Blank, I.; Dunkel, A.; Hofmann, T. Chapter 12-The chemistry of roasting decoding flavor formation. In The Craft and Science of Coffee; Academic Press: London, UK, 2017; pp. 273–279. Silva, M.; Várzea, V.; Guerra-Guimarães, L.; Gil, H.; Fernandez, D.; Petito, A.; Bertrand, B.; Lashermes, P.; Nicole, M. Coffee resistance to the main diseases: Leaf rust and coffee berry disease. Braz. J. Plant Physiol. 2016, 18, 119–147. [CrossRef] Talhinhas, P.; Batista, D.; Diniz, I.; Vieira, A.; Silva, D.; Loureiro, A.; Tavares, S.; Pereira, A.; Azinheira, H.; Guerra-Guimarães, L.; et al. The coffee leaf rust pathogen Hemileia vastatrix: One and a half centuries around the tropics. Mol. Plant Pathol. 2017, 18, 1039–1051. [CrossRef] Damon, A. A review of the biology and control of the coffee berry borer, Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Scolytidae). Bull. Entomol. Res. 2001, 90, 453–465. [CrossRef] [PubMed] Noir, S.; Anthony, F.; Bertrand, B.; Combes, M. 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Gimase, J.M.; Thagana,W.; Kirubi, D.T.; Gichuru, K.; Gichimu, B.M. Genetic Characterization of Arabusta Coffee Hybrids and their Parental Genotypes using Molecular Markers. Plant Cell Biotechnol. Mol. Biol. 2014, 1, 1. Cubry, P.; de Bellis, F.; Avia, K.; Bouchet, S.; Pot, D.; Dufour, M.; Legnate, H.; Leroy, T. An initial assessment of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in coffee trees: LD patterns in groups of Coffea canephora Pierre using microsatellite analysis. BMC Genom. 2013, 14, 10. Montagnon, C.; Cubry, P.; Leroy, T. Amélioration génétique du caféier Coffea canephora Pierre: Connaissances acquises, stratégies et perspectives. Cah. Agric. 2012, 21, 143–153. Alkimim, E.R.; Caixeta, E.T.; Sousa, T.V.; Gois, I.B.; Lopes da Silva, F.; Sakiyama, N.S.; Zambolim, L.; Alves, R.S.; Resende, M.D.V.D. Designing the best breeding strategy for Coffea canephora: Genetic evaluation of pure and hybrid individuals aiming to select for productivity and disease resistance traits. 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Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf application/pdf Colombia Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute - MDPI Agriculture (Switzerland); Vol. 15, Núm. 10 (2025): Agriculture (Switzerland) ( March);p. 1 - 14.

Strategies for Robusta Coffee (Coffea canephora) Improvement as a New Crop in Colombia

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