Coffee Genetic Improvement seeks productivity and sensory quality in Minas Gerais crops

Did you know that taking care of your daily coffee starts well before planting the crops? The beginning is in research, mainly in Genetic Improvement Programs for the development of cultivars and in studies that seek to support the recommendation of cultivars accurately for producing regions. 

In Minas Gerais, the Agricultural Research Company (EPAMIG) has been conducting the Coffee Genetic Improvement Program since the 1970s, in partnership with universities and other research institutions. The work gained relevance with the spread of rust (the main coffee disease) in the country's crops, as recalled by EPAMIG's diamond researcher, Antônio Alves Pereira, known as Tonico.

“The discovery of coffee rust in 1970 caused great concern among coffee growers, government officials and institutions responsible for technological development and coffee research in Brazil. As a consequence of the presence of the disease, several studies were initiated, including the development of breeding programs aimed at obtaining cultivars resistant to rust”, he says.

During this period, EPAMIG received strains from several partner institutions to be evaluated in the units of Oratório (Zona da Mata), São Sebastião do Paraíso, Machado and Três Pontas (South of Minas) and Patrocínio (Alto Paranaíba). “Several selection cycles were carried out on EPAMIG's experimental farms (currently called experimental fields) and, concomitantly, new cycles of crossings were carried out involving resistant varieties with the cultivars Catuaí Vermelho, Catuaí Amarelo, Mundo Novo and Bourbon and others, until reaching the selections that gave rise to the main cultivars registered by EPAMIG”, states the researcher.

Currently, the Coffee Genetic Improvement Program in Minas Gerais has 21 registered coffee cultivars, most of which are resistant to rust and with superior characteristics for productivity, sensorial quality of the drink, resistance to root-knot nematodes, suitability for mechanization, among others.

Bases for research

EPAMIG researcher Gladyston Carvalho highlights that work on genetic improvement of coffee trees and several other crops depends “on a lot of work, qualified technical and support staff, physical, financial and local resources to conduct the entire program until registration and recommendation of new cultivars”. In the specific case of EPAMIG, the experimental fields. “These are the places where genetic improvement programs are conducted, from crossings to generate variability to the registration of the cultivar.”

“A well-structured experimental field, such as that of EPAMIG in Patrocínio, enables advances in the development of technologies for the production sector, through work with genetic improvement, crop management, irrigation, nutrition, pest and disease management, among others”, he continues, reinforcing that public research has enabled major transformations in the Brazilian coffee production system”.

“Also focusing on improvement, an experimental area is needed, well structured and large enough to preserve the oldest coffee trees, which are often unproductive, with plots full of flaws and aspects that compromise, at first glance, in the opinion of some coffee growers. In general, you can't rip out plants and start again. This memory is part of the research, everything has to be recorded. In the experimental field, things can and often do go wrong, so we can be sure of success on private properties. There is genetic material that produces and has longevity, while others produce very well at the beginning, but become depleted quickly, in other words, it is necessary to evaluate carefully and over a long period. There are several challenges in coffee research and public research needs to remain strong and active to advance coffee farming in Minas Gerais and society as a whole”, he adds.

Another notable difference of EPAMIG is its Active Coffee Germplasm Bank, implemented in the Patrocínio Experimental Field. The collection has more than 1500 cataloged accessions (genetic materials) and is essential for supporting the ongoing Genetic Improvement Program and meeting the future demands of the production sector. It is through hybridizations and combinations with these accessions, “which present diverse characteristics such as resistance to pests and diseases, different sizes and sizes of fruits, fruit maturation with different cycles, potential for the production of specialty coffees, in addition to tolerance to factors abiotic conditions such as water deficit and high temperatures”, as researcher Tonico describes, that new cultivars are developed. 

The experimental fields function as research showcases, as they are the place where researchers can receive producers, carry out training, field days, meetings and technical visits, among other technology transfer events. Furthermore, they contribute to the maintenance of EPAMIG's basic activities and research, since the resulting products (qualified seeds, seedlings and processed coffees) are sold and the revenues are allocated to cover expenses, currently covered by the Company. 

Dissemination of search results

EPAMIG has carried out, through public-private partnerships, actions to evaluate coffee cultivars on commercial properties. The pioneering work was the Validation, technology transfer and recommendation of coffee cultivars developed by the EPAMIG Improvement Program for the Cerrado Mineiro Region”, implemented in 2016 and included the study of four harvests, carried out between harvests. from 2019 to 2022, in partnership with the Coffee Growers Federation.

The project, which had financial support from the Café Research Consortium, the Minas Gerais Research Support Foundation (Fapemig), the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and the National Institute of Coffee Science and Technology (INCT Café), consisted of the implementation of 22 demonstration units in the main coffee hubs of the Cerrado Mineiro and innovated by involving producers in collecting information. The results were published in the booklet “Performance assessment project for new coffee cultivars for the Cerrado Mineiro Region 2023”, recently produced and made available by the institutions.

EPAMIG researcher Gladyston Carvalho says that the project's proposal was to make known the potential of some coffee cultivars registered by the Coffee Improvement Program coordinated by EPAMIG and widely tested and selected in experimental fields. “We assumed that the producer needed to know these cultivars and discover how they would adapt to the soil and climate and management characteristics of their property. The results were surprising as there was a considerable increase in the planting of new cultivars. These impacts are a reflection of the efforts made in the selection of cultivars started in the experimental fields, the commitment of the coffee growers selected by the Federation of Coffee Growers of the Cerrado, the financial support from development agencies and a lot of work from the entire team involved.” 

“This work with the Demonstration Units has a very interesting characteristic, which is this interaction between the researcher and the coffee grower, which enables the transfer of technologies in a more efficient and lasting way. Producers participate in all phases and experiences are shared almost instantly, which is very beneficial. The experience was so successful that it served as a model for a project, started in 2021, financed by the State Department of Development (Headquarters) and Fapemig, which involves the implementation of Experimental Units in all producing regions of Minas Gerais”, assesses the director of Technical Operations at EPAMIG, Trazilbo de Paula.