Propagation of Rust-Tolerant Coffea arabica L. Plants by Sprout Rooting in Microtunnels
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Propagation of Rust-Tolerant Coffea arabica L. Plants by Sprout Rooting in Microtunnels Geomar Vallejos-Torres 1 & Luis A. Arévalo 2 & Orlando Ríos 1 & Agustín Cerna 1 & César Marín 3,4 Received: 13 December 2019 / Accepted: 19 January 2020 # Sociedad Chilena de la Ciencia del Suelo 2020
Abstract Small Peruvian coffee producers face low yields per hectare, caused mainly by recent rust outbreaks and by natural crossing of coffee varieties, which are sown without specific order. Coffee rust has drastically reduced areas of susceptible but high-quality cup varieties as caturra, pache, and nacional, which have been replaced by others with high grain weight, but low-quality cup. This study aimed to determine the rooting capacity of sprouts subjected to different concentrations of indole-3-butyric acid (AIB) in three varieties of Coffea arabica, in the San Martín region, Peru. The most appropriate sprout rooting characteristics allowing to propagate rust-tolerant C. arabica plants were evaluated, under the effect of four doses of AIB (0, 1000, 2000, and 3000 ppm) in three coffee varieties (caturra, pache, and nacional), using microtunnels as rooting environments. A completely randomized design, consisting of three repetitions per treatment and six sprouts per repetition, was used. At the end of 50 days, the best rooting result (89%) was obtained with a dose of 2000 ppm of AIB in the caturra variety. The overall results are successful, since there is a conversion rate of sprouts into useful seedlings of more than 85%, if proper handling conditions are implemented. This method of propagation of rust-tolerant C. arabica sprouts by microtunnels enables a mass production of seedlings. The validation of these results could lead to the establishment of entire rust-tolerant coffee farms. Keywords Caturra . Coffee . Coffee rust . Indole-3-butyric acid . Propagation . Sprouts
1 Introduction Coffee is a crop of great commercial importance, being the second most commercialized product in the world (after oil) and being a livelihood source for more than 125 million people (ICO 2013). It belongs to the Rubiaceae family and its commercial production is limited only to two species belonging to the Coffea genus: C. arabica and C. canephora (the latter generally known as “robusta” coffee) (Charrier and Eskes 2004; Lashermes et al. 1999). Although the cup quality * César Marín [email protected] 1
Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Jr. Maynas N° 177, Tarapoto, San Martín, Peru
2
Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, Jr. Belén Torres de Tello 135,, San Martín, Peru
3
Instituto de Ciencias Agronómicas y Veterinarias, Universidad de O’Higgins, 3070000 San Fernando, Chile
4
Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 8331150 Santiago, Chile
of C. arabica is considered to be superior to that of C. canephora, improving the cup quality and commercial production of C. arabica remains a priority for most breeding programs (Tran et al
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