Abstract
Cutting propagation of coffee trees has been used for several years in Coffea canephora because of the advantages of this technique compared to seed propagation. Recently, the production of heterotic arabic coffee hybrid genotypes increased the importance of conventional and biotechnological cloning also for C. arabica. Two experiments were carried out to assess cutting rooting of several C. arabica genotypes. In greater detail, the potential of two types of cutting of several hybrid genotypes compared to C. canephora genotypes was investigated. The experiment was carried out under shading with automatic misting in boxes of partially burnt rice husks during the summer months. There is genetic variability for cutting rooting capacity among the C. arabica genotypes. The F 1 hybrids tended to perform better than the lines. Single-node soft-wood cuttings were superior to the tip cuttings. Selection only for cutting rooting characteristics and useable cuttings resulted in efficient selection especially among single-node soft-wood cuttings. In spite of the large observed difference between the cutting production of C. arabica and C. canephora, in some cases C. arabica genotypes can be obtained with rooting performance very close that observed in C. canephora.
Highlights
Over 70 species of the Coffea genus are identified
This study aimed to assess in two experiments the rooting of various C. arabica genotypes and, in greater detail, compare the potential of some C. arabica hybrids with two types of cuttings with C. canephora genotypes
Catuaí)” x ‘Iapar 59’ showed similar performance of rooting percentage and percentage of useable cutting to the C. canephora B population and did not differ statistically from the A population. These results indicated that genotypes with predominant contribution of C. arabica genes can show rooting potential similar to C. canephora and can be obtained in places where plant propagation by cuttings is a common practice
Summary
Over 70 species of the Coffea genus are identified. only C. arabica and C. canephora are cultivated in the coffee producing countries.Most of the genetic breeding studies on C. arabica, which is an allotetraploid species with a variable selfpollination rate, have been concerned with selection for greater yield and other complementary characteristics such as improved quality and pest and disease resistance. Because C. arabica is a predominantly self-pollinating species, it is expected that the use of intrapopulational selection methods would not provide considerable genetic gains due to low variability. An important alternative for genetic breeding is hybridization, which will allow gene recombination and use of the existing variability to produce new cultivars adapted to different growing conditions (Fontes, 2001). Most current genetic breeding programs in the world for C. canephora, which is a diploid, cross-pollinating and self-incompatible species, have given priority to superior genotypes that are cutting propagated. The main genetic breeding center of this species has given special emphasis on a reciprocal recurrent selection program to exploit hybrid vigor at inter-group cross level (Montagnon et al, 1998)
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