This post was originally published on The Economic Times
Under a baking sun, agronomist Oliveiro Guerreiro Filho meanders through a hodgepodge of coffee plants at the Campinas Agronomy Institute where, unlike the uniform rows on most Brazilian coffee farms, each cluster is different from the next.
This menagerie of coffee species – some squat, others soaring – includes 15 uncommon and non-commercial breeds such as racemosa, liberica and stenophylla, the genes of which could shore up future supplies of arabica coffee, researchers hope.
Scientists warn that crops of arabica – the world’s most common coffee bean – will be severely affected by a rapidly changing climate, with output from countries including No.1 grower Brazil expected to decline.
Climate change could make 20% of areas now growing arabica globally unsuitable for coffee crops by 2050, a report from lender Rabobank said this week.
By introducing genetic material from more rustic coffee species into new hybrids, scientists at the research institute in Sao Paulo state aim to create more resistant arabica varieties.
For example, liberica’s hardiness in the face of hotter and drier conditions has drawn praise from farmers in Indonesia and Malaysia planting small plots of the species to see how they hold up against drought.
“Liberica can tolerate heat and high temperature environments very
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