Breeding for resistance to CLR and CBD in Kenya
Kenya is predominantly an Arabica coffee-producing country.
Coffee was introduced into Kenya by missionaries at the
beginning of the 20th century. The first plantations were established
at Bura in the low lying coastal region of the country,
but due to unfavourable climatic conditions, coffee growing
was relocated to higher altitudes at Kibwezi and Kikuyu near
the capital city of Nairobi. The first variety to be introduced
and grown commercially was French Mission Coffee. Historically,
cultivated Arabica coffee is derived from Bourbon and
Typica types. In the early years of coffee cultivation, the breeding objectives of most producing countries were to select varieties
combining high yield, fine beverage quality and adaptation
to local growing conditions. The breeding strategy was
mainly by individual tree selections, giving rise to cultivars
SL 28, SL 34 and K 7, which are still grown commercially
today. Existing plantations of French Mission and Blue
Mountain coffee varieties are the original accessions planted
in Kenya before the selection process commenced.