http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-coffee/
Colombian Leaf Rust Resistant Coffee
The story of Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee is inspiring. Leaf rust is a fungal disease that has devastated coffee plantations as far back as the mid to late 19th century. Those with an interest in history may know that Sri Lanka (old Ceylon) used to be a coffee producer until the leaf rust wiped out all production after which the nation switched to growing tea. The coffee leaf rust spread from the East Indies to South Asia and Africa and eventually to the new world. Today a plague of coffee leaf rust threatens the livelihoods of coffee growers and workers throughout Central America. Fortunately for the coffee producing nation of Colombia, the workers at the Cenicafé have found a cure. Cenicafé is a research organization funded by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation - the folks who bring you Juan Valdez coffee. In the early 1970’s coffee leaf rust was found in the Americas. In the early 1980’s Cenicafé started work on producing a Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee. The Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee comes in two varieties, Colombian and Castillo. The first is a cross between an old Colombian variety, Caturra, and a rust-resistant strain from Southeast Asia, the Timor hybrid. Castillo is an offshoot of further cross breeding of the first Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee strain. Replanting with Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee in Colombia has reduced the incidence of leaf rust from 40% to 5% from 2011 to 2013.
Avoid, Treating, and Curing Leaf Rust
Some time back we wrote about how leaf rust kills organic coffee crops. The concern for organic coffee growers is that when the disease has progressed too far there are only two choices. One is to spray everything sight with fungicides and the other is to dig out all of the plants, spray, wait, and replant. It is sad that the move to sun resistant coffee strains and dense planting has tended to make coffee leaf rust more prevalent. Warmer temperatures facilitate the growth of leaf rust, and so does crowding the plants. Growing plants in the shade inhibits coffee leaf rust because temperatures are lower and because fungi that grow on coffee plants in the shade tend to inhibit the growth of coffee leaf rust. A grower who wants to produce healthy organic coffee can grow his coffee in the shade and he can invest, bit by bit, in introducing Colombian rust resistant coffee strains, and others as they become available. But, for those growers who are currently hit the worst, there will typically be a three year wait before new plants reach maturity and start producing coffee.
2. The story of Colombian leaf rust
resistant coffee is inspiring. Leaf
rust is a fungal disease that has
devastated coffee plantations as far
back as the mid to late 19th century.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
3. Those with an interest in history
may know that Sri Lanka (old
Ceylon) used to be a coffee
producer until the leaf rust wiped
out all production after which the
nation switched to growing tea.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
4. The coffee leaf rust spread from
the East Indies to South Asia and
Africa and eventually to the new
world. Today a plague of coffee leaf
rust threatens the livelihoods of
coffee growers and workers
throughout Central America.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
5. Fortunately for the coffee
producing nation of Colombia, the
workers at the Cenicafé have found
a cure. Cenicafé is a research
organization funded by the
Colombian Coffee Growers
Federation - the folks who bring
you Juan Valdez coffee.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
6. In the early 1970’s coffee leaf rust
was found in the Americas. In the
early 1980’s Cenicafé started work
on producing a Colombian leaf rust
resistant coffee. The Colombian
leaf rust resistant coffee comes in
two varieties, Colombian and
Castillo.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
7. The first is a cross between an old
Colombian variety, Caturra, and a
rust-resistant strain from Southeast
Asia, the Timor hybrid. Castillo is
an offshoot of further cross
breeding of the first Colombian
leaf rust resistant coffee strain.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
8. Replanting with Colombian leaf
rust resistant coffee in Colombia
has reduced the incidence of leaf
rust from 40% to 5% from 2011 to
2013.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
9. Avoid, Treating, and Curing Leaf
Rust
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
10. Some time back we wrote about
how leaf rust kills organic coffee
crops. The concern for organic
coffee growers is that when the
disease has progressed too far
there are only two choices.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
11. One is to spray everything sight
with fungicides and the other is to
dig out all of the
plants, spray, wait, and replant. It
is sad that the move to sun
resistant coffee strains and dense
planting has tended to make coffee
leaf rust more prevalent.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
12. Warmer temperatures facilitate the
growth of leaf rust, and so does
crowding the plants. Growing plants in
the shade inhibits coffee leaf rust
because temperatures are lower and
because fungi that grow on coffee
plants in the shade tend to inhibit the
growth of coffee leaf rust.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
13. A grower who wants to produce
healthy organic coffee can grow his
coffee in the shade and he can
invest, bit by bit, in introducing
Colombian rust resistant coffee
strains, and others as they become
available.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
14. But, for those growers who are
currently hit the worst, there will
typically be a three year wait before
new plants reach maturity and
start producing coffee.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
15. What Is the Gene?
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
16. What is the gene or what are the
combinations of genes that make
the Timor variety from Southeast
Asia resistant to coffee leaf rust? Is
it possible to find the gene and
insert it into the chromosomes of
high quality Arabica coffees?
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
17. This approach would likely result
in a cure of the leaf rust problem
even more so than the breeding
efforts that have produced
Colombian leaf rust resistant coffee
strains.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
18. But, will the organic coffee
drinking community drink a coffee
that has been genetically modified?
This is a question for later times
and later articles.
By: http://buyorganiccoffee.org/869/colombian-leaf-rust-resistant-
coffee/
