Epamig intensifies actions to obtain more productive Arabica coffee cultivars

The Agricultural Research Company of Minas Gerais (Epamig) has carried out, over its 50 years, several actions to strengthen and improve coffee farming in the State and in Brazil. To date, the Coffee Genetic Improvement Program has made 21 coffee cultivars available to rural producers. Coffea arabica L.

“This work was the result of several partnerships with different national and international institutions and the result of the joint effort of several researchers who seek to meet the demand of the consumer market”, highlights Epamig researcher Gladyston Carvalho, remembering that the actions are continuous.

Currently, several genotypes are in different stages of development in the Company's experimental fields. Among these genotypes, hybrids of Coffea arabica L, have received great attention, due to their high productivity and their DNA containing multiple resistances to different fungal diseases of the crop.

Arabica coffee hybrids

Last week, a team from the company Multicana Plus Service Ltda, specialized in cloning plant species, based in Holambra (SP) was at the Epamig Experimental Field in Patrocínio to collect leaves from Arabica coffee hybrids.

“22 superior hybrids were selected from the 115 evaluated in the last three agricultural harvests. Aspects such as high productivity, excellent resistance to diseases, as well as positive differences in the quality of the drink were considered. The hybrids will be subjected to multiplication in the laboratory, creating clones that will later be taken to the field”, informs Epamig researcher Vinícius Teixeira Andrade, who accompanied the collection of leaves from the selected hybrids, together with Embrapa Café researcher, Guilherme Abreu,

At the end of the cloning process, 17 thousand seedlings will be produced in the laboratory, funded with resources from the Café Research Consortium. “Cloning will allow us to accelerate the evaluation process of these superior hybrids, allowing us to explore hybrid vigor in Coffea arabica L. This way, we will be able to optimize the development time of a new cultivar, which is currently 25 years, on average, to approximately 15 years”, informs Epamig/Consórcio Pesquisa Café researcher, Francislei Vitti Raposo.

The seedlings will be ready in 2026 and will be taken to the field in Demonstration Units in the main coffee producing regions of Minas Gerais. “This is a long-term project. The experimental hybrids will be part of 20 trials. In these experiments, the clones will be compared with six widely used commercial cultivars, which will serve as reference standards”, adds Francislei.

The expectation is that, after four harvests, two or three validated hybrids will be obtained to be disseminated among producers as superior commercial cultivars. “The benefits will be immense for rural producers, since, in addition to high productivity and multiple resistances, hybrids of Coffea arabica L. they offer greater production stability, minimizing the variations observed from harvest to harvest”, he concludes.