Selection and Breeding
The primary objective of coffee breeding and selection program is to develop high yielding, excellent bean quality cultivars which are adapted to specific growing conditions in Hawaii. Disease resistance (especially rust) and mechanical harvestability are also important criteria. Four major goals have been set for this year: (1) develop strategies for breeding and selection of coffee cultivars in Hawaii with the assistance of a coffee breeding consultant; (2) develop techniques required to implement the breeding program; (3) develop procedures for vegetative propagation; and (4) select potentially elite individual trees from existing coffee farms and vegetatively propagate them.
In 1992, HARC imported, under quarantine, the rust resistant cultivars PROMECAFE1 and 2 from Guatemala and the germplasm was established at the HARC Maunawili Breeding Station. During March and April 1997, crosses were made between the rust resistant lines of Promecafe and the cultivars 'typica' and 'catuai.' Promecafe lines were also self-pollinated to obtain progenies of individual Promecafe trees for evaluation. In addition, 34 individual trees from 5 coffee growing areas in Hawaii have been selected. Plants derived from seed and vegetative cuttings were planted at one of the HARC substations on Oahu. Additional crosses among these trees are being made.
An important part of the coffee improvement program is to efficiently vegetatively propagate elite coffee tree selections; thus, work on vegetative propagation was also initiated. The preliminary results are very encouraging. The development of micropropagation techniques will also be pursued.