Abstract
Batian is a true breeding commercial coffee variety that was released in Kenya in 2010. It is resistant to coffee berry disease and coffee leaf rust which are the main coffee diseases in Kenya. Coupled with early ripening, good beverage quality and high yields, demand for planting material has surpassed supply. Conventional propagation methods do not provide enough planting materials, hence the need to develop alternative methods. The objective of this study was to develop an effective in vitro protocol for propagating the coffee variety, Batian. Leaf explants were harvested and cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) media supplemented with different concentrations of cytokinins benzyl amino purine (BAP) and thidiazuron (TDZ) separately, 100 mg/l myo-inositol 3% sucrose and gelled with 0.3% gelrite. The results show differences among cytokinins levels in induction of somatic embryos. BAP at 13.3 µM gave the highest mean of embryos per explants, 6.06 ± 1.18 and highest percentage of embryogenic cultures of 58.33%. Development of somatic embryos was achieved on hormone free MS media with highest mean length of 0.32 ± 0.03 mm. Indole butyric acid at 9.8 µM was best for induction of a well-developed root system with a mean length of 1.22 ± 0.09 mm. This protocol opens new prospects for massive propagation of Batian in nine months. Key words: Batian, somatic embryo, Coffea arabica.
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