Coffee Industry News

First Somatic Clones for Robusta Coffee in PNG (16/03/2010)

The search for an elite Robusta Coffee planting material for lowland farmers is keeping the Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) Ltd on its toes as various techniques are experimented.

Unlike the Arabica coffee widely grown in the Highlands, Robusta coffee in Papua New Guinea has had little research work done and literature for further improvement of Robusta stock is limited. Therefore, agricultural extension officers do not have the right information to advise Robusta coffee farmers causing much frustration among farmers and loss of interest in the crop.

Currently, PNG’s main Robusta coffee producing provinces are East Sepik, Madang, and parts of Morobe province.

Robusta coffee is grown in the lowland regions. Distribution of planting materials in PNG is done by providing either cloned coffee trees from selected superior or elite trees, or seeds from good reliable Robusta populations. The latter being disadvantaged as seeds are not always true –to-type or like their parents.

To minimize use of seeds, CIC’s research arm in Aiyura, Eastern
Highlands Province is currently employing two methods to clone
Robusta coffee: conventional method of pith nurseries to generate
new plants by using coffee suckers from known trees and a tissue
culture technique called somatic embryogenesis. The latter
manipulates Robusta coffee leaves to create new plants in a
laboratory environment.

Somatic embryogenesis is a biotechnology term describing a process where cells are directed to become new plants. Though new to PNG, the technique is practiced in many developed countries.

The CIC Ltd is employing somatic embryogenesis to mass propagate Omuru 1 Robusta coffee variety. Research done by CIC on this variety suggests that it is has the potential to out yield the current Robusta varieties in the country.

Somatic embryogenesis in coffee is being done using young smooth coffee leaves. New leaves are cleaned, cut into small squares, and are introduced on to specially prepared mediums containing growth regulators. After nine to 12 months, new plants called somatic clones are produced. The number of plantlets produced from one leaf square cutting depends primarily on an individual clone, its responsiveness to the mediums and the environment.

An estimate of 1,000 plantlets can be created from a leaf square given
good response. These plants are then transferred to a poly-house for
environment adaptation before being moved into the field for actual planting.  The process is lengthy and laborious but aims to regenerate a uniform elite Robusta coffee variety. Because coffee plays alongside its coastal competitors - cocoa and coconut, demand for Omuru 1 among
coastal farmers is crucial for the mass propagation of this crop.

The CIC is now faced with the challenge of training trainers and farmers on this new variety, expanding nursery capacity in lowland areas and ensuring that Omuru 1 is compatible and productive in the field.

 

Komp Coffee Plantation Rejuvenated | Coffee Rehabilitation in WHP | Coffee Berry Borer Update | Coffee Price Increase | Successful Coffee Cooperative Society | Successful Female Coffee Buyer | Moratorium on Seed Distribution | Bougainville Keen on Growing Coffee | Cherry Coffee Trading Illegal | First Wet Factory for Okapa District | Bris Kanda Partners with CIC | First Somatic Clones for Robusta

 

Updated: October 21, 2010