Coffee Genetic Breeding at IAPAR

Abstract

This paper introduces the coffee genetic breeding research program developed by IAPAR (Agronomic Institute of Paraná, Brazil) which started in 1973. The characteristics of a breeding program for a seed-propagated perennial plant with a biennial production and the difficulties in assessing yield and longevity due to the time limitations they impose on the development and release of commercial cultivars are presented. A concise diagnosis of the arabica coffee crop in the region and the cultivar management and developmental strategies and priorities within the “IAPAR Model for dense population coffee crop” are detailed. The advances in cultivar development and management, integrated with other technologies for the solution of main problems are discussed and, an array of alternative procedures, techniques, methods and strategies to reduce the coffee cultivar development time from 24 to 12 years are proposed.