Behavior of 33 coffee (Coffea sp.) accessions of the Catimor type in San Ramón, Chanchamayo, Perú

Abstract

Coffee has been cultivated in Peru for over 100 years, and since then, various commercial varieties have been introduced, mostly informally, although this approach has been changing in recent years, benefiting national coffee farming. Within this context, documenting the presence of Catimors is necessary, as it is an important group of varieties with presence in all coffee-producing areas. This study aimed to understand the characteristics of 33 Catimor-type coffee accessions in San Ramón, Chanchamayo, Peru. The study was conducted during the 2018-2019 coffee growing season. The location was at the Coffee Germplasm Bank of the National Agrarian University La Molina (BGC-UNALM), located on the "La Génova" estate, in San Ramón, Chanchamayo, Peru, at an altitude of 965 meters above sea level, 11°05.70' LS and 75°20.969' LO. Thirty-three accessions were analyzed with 5 replications each, evaluating the incidence of rust (%), infestation level of coffee berry borer (%), number of harvests, weight of one hundred ripe fruits (g), weight of pulp of one hundred ripe fruits (g), weight of one hundred seeds (g), cherry coffee yield (quintal [qq] ha-1), dry parchment coffee yield (qq ha-1), and the ratio of dry parchment coffee to cherry coffee. Considering that the finalweight in kg of each field harvest was obtained and then transformed into quintals (1 qq equals 46 kg). The results showed that Catimors are a group of varieties whose main characteristic is resistance to coffee rust. In this trial, 11 out of the 33 evaluated accessions had zero incidence, meaning they showed no symptoms of the disease during the study period. They also showed a high yield of dry parchment coffee; in this case, the most outstanding accessions were UNACAF-70 and UNACAF-114, with 54.582 qq ha-1and 42.88 qq ha-1; respectively. It was concluded that Catimors can be used in integrated management programs for coffee rust in Peru due to their resistance to coffee rust and high yield.