FEATURE World Coffee Research
To make a new F1 hybrid, emasculation occurs, where the pollen-producing stamen is removed so an exposed pistil is ready for pollination.
F1’s time trial GLOBAL COFFEE REPORT DISCOVERS THE HISTORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF WORLD COFFEE RESEARCH’S F1 PROJECT THAT IS NOT ONLY FOCUSED ON HIGH YIELDING VARIETIES UNDER THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE, BUT COFFEE THAT TASTES GREAT.
D
espite being in a relatively early stage of development, first-generation (F1) hybrid coffee varieties are increasingly seen as an important and viable path forward for the coffee industry. As temperatures increase, coffee growing land decreases, and crop productivity becomes paramount to farmers’ survival, 2021 marks the fifth year in which World Coffee Research (WCR), a collaborative, industry-driven R&D nonprofit, is testing potential new F1 hybrid varieties in early-stage field trials. This project not only seeks to create high yielding varieties that can perform under a wide range of environments, but quality-driven coffee there is a market for. As such, international coffee roasters were involved from the beginning. “F1 hybrid varieties are created by crossing two genetically distinct plant parents that have specific complementary features,” says Jorge Berny, Breeding and Technical Manager at WCR. “The offspring has the potential to offer unique advantages beyond either of its parents, such as higher production, in-cup quality or greater disease resistance. It’s a way to progress the coffee industry faster.” The first F1 hybrid varieties in coffee were created by a collaborative breeding effort that predates WCR’s formation. Four countries including Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, under the PROMECAFE umbrella, collaborated with French research institution
14
G C R | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA RY 2022
CIRAD and a coffee genebank in Costa Rica (CATIE) to create and release four F1 hybrids in 2010. Of those, one in particular, Centroamericano, also known by its breeding code, H1, has seen growing demand by farmers in the region. WCR began a focused F1 hybrid breeding effort in 2015, with the idea that continuous improvement is needed by farmers. “At the time, it still wasn’t clear if farmers would accept these new F1 hybrids, and if roasters would like them, too,” says Hanna Neuschwander, WCR Communications Director. “But it was clear that they offered real advantages for productivity, and they can be brought to market faster than traditional varieties, which take 25-plus years. We initiated the program based on that urgency.”
