16 > CIRAD 2007
G enetic resources of coffee in Ethiopia
T
he centre of diversity of Coffea arabica is located in the natural rainforests that stretch across the high plateaus of southwestern Ethiopia. Coffee is currently harvested from trees in their natural habitat, but also more intensively in traditional gardens and modern plantations. The diversity of ecological conditions, plant material, cropping methods and farmCoffee trees in Harerge, Ethiopia ers’ practices has given rise © J.-P. Labouisse/Cirad to a range of different coffees with sensorial traits that are specific to each growing region. Ethiopian coffee trees represent the main source of Coffea araPartners bica diversity. They have been the focus of several Centro Agronómico collection surveys conducted to build up internaTropical de Investigación tional germplasm collections that can be tapped by y Enseñanza (CATIE, Costa coffee breeders. These accessions are used as parent Rica), Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research material to propagate—via crosses with commercial (EIAR, Ethiopia), Institut varieties—F1 hybrids that are resistant to pathogens de recherche pour (nematodes, diseases) and produce coffees with le développement (IRD), excellent taste quality. Jimma Agricultural Research Center (JARC, Ethiopia), University of Montpellier II.
CIRAD has been conducting research for several years on coffee origins and genetic diversity using
molecular markers and biochemical phenotyping by near-infrared spectrometry. As part of a coffee improvement project in collaboration with EIAR, CIRAD has developed a database to manage the passport data of over 5 000 coffee accessions preserved in research stations throughout Ethiopia. Through this ongoing collaboration, studies are under way on coffees collected in various coffeegrowing regions of Ethiopia. Contact > Jean-Pierre Labouisse, Plant Resistance to Parasites (UMR RPB), jean-pierre.labouisse@cirad.fr Bertrand B., Vaast P., Alpizar E., Etienne H., Davrieux F., Charmetant P., 2006. Comparison of bean biochemical composition and beverage quality of Arabica hybrids of Sudanese-Ethiopian origins with traditional varieties at various elevations in Central America. Tree Physiology, 26: 1239-1248. Labouisse J.P., 2007. Les systèmes de culture et les ressources génétiques du caféier Coffea arabica L. Montpellier, CIRAD (CD-ROM). Labouisse J.P., Bellachew B., Hamelin C., Kotecha S., Bertrand B., 2007. Collection and ex situ conservation of coffee landraces in Ethiopia: the example of Harerge. In: XXIst International Conference on Coffee Science, Montpellier, 11-15 September 2006. Montpellier, ASIC, p. 926-930.
N etwork for plant genetic resource management in the West Indies
C
A bunch of wild Musa acuminata bananas © C. Jenny/Cirad
APGERNET* is a network that was recently set up in the West Indies following a workshop funded by Bioversity International and the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), which was held within the framework of a Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) initiative in Trinidad and Tobago. The aim is to promote management and long-term conservation of plant genetic resources in the Caribbean region. CIRAD is an active participant in this network and was asked to manage collections of two species on the FAO list of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA), ie bananas and yams (in collaboration with INRA for this latter crop). In this workshop, it was also recommended that CIRAD’s pineapple germplasm collection be safeguarded and that this
species be added to the FAO list. This is an acknowledgement of the quality of CIRAD’s genetic resource management work in the French West Indies. It also confirms the importance of the Centre de resources biologiques sur les plantes tropicales, which was founded by CIRAD and INRA in Guadeloupe and Martinique to promote the conservation and dissemination of genetic resources. * Capgernet: Caribbean Plant Genetic Resources Network.
Contact > Christophe Jenny, Genetic Improvement of Vegetatively Propagated Crops (UPR), christophe.jenny@cirad.fr http://collections.antilles.inra.fr/BRCPortal/