Mundo Novo x Caturra

GENETIC DESCRIPTION

Bourbon-Typica Group (Typica- and Bourbon-related)

HISTORY

A cross between highly productive Mundo Novo and compact Caturra, made by the Instituto Agronomico (IAC) of Sao Paulo State in Campinas, Brazil. The plant is highly productive compared to Bourbon, in part because of its small size, which allows plants to be closely spaced; it can be planted at nearly double the density. The plant’s shape makes it relatively easy apply pest and disease treatments. It is mainly characterized by great vigor and its low height; it is less compact than Caturra. It is highly susceptible to coffee leaf rust.

Catuaí derives from the Guarani multo mom, meaning “very good.” Today, it is considered to have good but not great cup quality. There are yellow-fruited and red-fruited types, and have since been many selections in different countries. The cultivar was created in 1949 from a crossing of yellow Caturra and Mundo Novo, and initially called H-2077.

The variety was released in Brazil 1972 after pedigree selection (selection of individual plants through successive generations) and is in wide cultivation there. In Brazil, there are multiple lines of Catuai available; some are notable for their high productivity. The Catuaí lines transferred to Central America seem to be less productive; studies in Honduras and Costa Rica found no significant differences in productivity have been observed between Caturra and Catuaí.

It was first introduced in Honduras in 1979, where it was tested by Instituto Hondureño del Café (IHCAFÉ). It was released commercially in 1983, after IHCAFÉ selected two lines for planting. In Honduras today, Catui accounts for nearly half of the Arabica coffee in cultivation. Researchers at IHCAFÉ are actively pursuing breeding with Catuai, including creating hybrid crosses between Catuai and Timor Hybrid lines.

It is also economically important in Costa Rica, where a yellow-fruiting Catuai was introduced in 1985, whose descendants have spread widely through the country. It was introduced into Guatemala in 1970; currently about 20% of the country’s production is Catuai. It has a negligible presence in other Central American countries.

Catuai, whose small stature allows it to be planted densely and harvested more efficiently, led in part to the intensification of full-sun coffee cultivation in Central America in the 1970s and 1980s.

A similar variety called Garnica was developed by the Mexican Coffee Institute (INMECAFÉ) in 1960-61, through the crossing of Mundo Novo with Caturra Amarillo. Adaptation trials were established in 1978-79, but INMECAFÉ was dissolved in 1989 before pedigree selections were completed. Further selections were made by private producers in Mexico, but the variety is difficult to trace.

STATURE

Dwarf/Compact

LEAF TIP COLOR

Green

BEAN SIZE

Average

COFFEE LEAF RUST

Susceptible

COFFEE BERRY DISEASE (CBD)

Susceptible

NEMATODES

Susceptible

Source: World Coffee Research

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Bourbon-like genetic background.

GENETIC DESCRIPTION

Bourbon-Typica Group (Bourbon-related)

Bourbon is the most famous of the Bourbon-descended varieties. It is a tall variety characterized by relatively low production, susceptibility to the major diseases, and excellent cup quality.

French missionaries introduced Bourbon from Yemen to Bourbon Island (now La Réunion)—giving it the name it has today—in the early 1700s. Until the mid-19th century, Bourbon did not leave the island. But beginning in the mid-1800s, the variety spread to new parts of the world as the missionaries moved to establish footholds in Africa and the Americas.

The Bourbon variety was introduced to Brazil around 1860, and from there rapidly spread north into other parts of South and Central America, where it is still cultivated today. Here it became mixed with other Bourbon-related varieties, introduced from India as well as Ethiopian landraces. Nowadays, there are many Bourbon-like varieties found in East Africa, but none exactly match the distinct Bourbon variety that can be found in Latin America.

Today in Latin America, Bourbon itself has largely been replaced by varieties that descend from it (notably including Caturra, Catuai, and Mundo Novo), although Bourbon itself it is still cultivated in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru.

Modern cultivars of coffee are derived from two base populations – known as Typica/Típica and Bourbon – both of which are ascensions of Yemen and which were spread worldwide in the eighteenth century.

Around the year 1715, a few plants of Arabica were introduced by the French to the island we know today as Reunion (at that time known as Ile Bourbon) in the Indian Ocean. These Typica trees mutated on the island, giving rise to the variety that became known as Bourbon, which is more productive than its ancestor. This sole characteristic made the new variety a valuable transplant throughout Brazil (where it was taken in the late 18th century) and other parts of Central and South America, as well as on the African continent, particularly in Rwanda.

Bourbon was introduced to Brazil in the 1860s (some accounts have it as early as 1852) to make up for the supply loss caused by a coffee leaf rust outbreak in Java and is part of the reason Brazil rose to become one of the world’s coffee superproducers from that time onward.

Despite the variety’s susceptibility to rust, breeders around the world largely exploited the above mentioned varieties resulting in Typica and Bourbon-derived cultivars. Both produce exceptional cup profiles but display similar agronomic behaviours characterised by high susceptibility to many pests and low adaptability.

Bourbon grows best at heights of 1,100 to 2,000 metres above sea level. It produces a similar quality of coffee as does the Typica variety but normally yields 20% to 30% more coffee. It is, however, considered to be a variety with low productivity when compared to other common coffee plants such as the Bourbon-derived varieties Caturra, Catuaí and Pacas.

Bourbon have large, wide leaves with wavy edges and tend to have more secondary branches in comparison with other coffee trees. The berries are rather small and very thick, and can be red, yellow or pink depending on the sub-variety. Red, yellow and pink (sometimes known as orange) Bourbon are varieties with natural mutation of one recessive gene

Bourbon is valued for its complex acidity and wonderful balance. It often has a sweet, caramel quality and nice and crisp acidity but can present quite distinct flavours depending on where it is planted. El Salvador Bourbons tend to display butter, toffee, and fresh pastry; Rwandan types tend to have a punchier, fruity quality.

Yellow Bourbon

Believed to be a ‘natural’ mutation of Red Bourbon first found in Brazil in the 1930s. Read more on the history here.

Orange Bourbon

Another ‘natural’ mutation of Red Bourbon first found and developed in El Salvador. The cherries of this plant often are peachy/pink, thus it is sometimes called ‘Pink’ Bourbon.

STATURE

Tall

LEAF TIP COLOR

Green

BEAN SIZE

Average

QUALITY POTENTIAL AT HIGH ALTITUDE

Very Good

YIELD POTENTIAL

Medium

COFFEE LEAF RUST

Susceptible

COFFEE BERRY DISEASE (CBD)

Susceptible

NEMATODES

Susceptible

Source: World Coffee Research / Mercanta

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