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Today is :
Archives (2001)
Clonal propagation
in coffee: a promising technology
by Mary Charlotte O Fresco |
July-September
2001
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Coffee growers in the Philippines often encounter
several problems in propagating their coffee seedlings. Majority
of them have limited access to good planting materials due
to scarcity and high cost. Because of these constraints, coffee
farmers resort to conventional methods of propagating coffee
seedlings through seeds and traditional vegetative cuttings.
However, these methods of propagation have disadvantages.
Coffee plants that are propagated using seeds may produce
plants which are genetically different and may contain inferior
traits. Moreover, propagation method that employs traditional
vegetative cuttings can only be obtained from (orthotropic)
upright branches. Approximately 8,000 plants can only be produced
per annum using conventional methods of propagation. This
production rate is insufficient to meet the increasing demand
of the local coffee industry.
The recent advances in plant biotechnology offer
solutions to these longstanding problems. The Coffee Research
and Development Network based at the Cavite State University
in Indang, Cavite ( CaVSU) is currently undertaking researches
on plant regenerations and cloning through axillary bud culture.
Using these techniques, the plantlets are ensured to be "true-to-type"
planting materials since the desirable characteristics of
the mother plant are completely passed on to its progeny.
This technique facilitates the selection of good cuttings
at faster rate.
According to Dr. Alejandro Mojica, team leader
of the coffee R&D network, mother clonal garden should
be established first to ensure good quality of the planting
materials. This is followed by the production of cuttings.
Through bending of a healthy branch, numerous sprouts can
be harvested after two to three months. The plantlets are
then treated with fungicide and root hormone to hasten growth.
These cloned plantlets are then reared and maintained in a
propagation tunnel using sterilized rooting media to prevent
disease infestation. After a few months, plantlets that develop
extensive roots are harvested and transplanted to a black
polyethylene bag with sterilized (sun-dried) soil. The seedlings
can be planted in the field when at least six to eight pairs
of leaves emerged.
Dr. Mojica's research group currently employs
traditional means while they are still verifying the methods
on plant regenerations and axillary bud culture.
In other countries, this macropropagation technique
is widely applied to common varieties of coffee such as Excelsa
and Liberica . Moreover, the National Seed Industry Council
approved and recommended the adoption of clonal coffee seedlings
from IC2 and IC4, high yielding cultvars of Robusta coffee.
(Fore more information, please contact Dr.
Alejandro Mojica, National Coffee RDE Network, Cavite State
University, Indang, Cavite at Tel.no. (046)- 415-0020.)
More Articles:
Vol. 3 No. 3 July-September 2001
»»
USM recommends high-yielding rubber clones
»» GMA okays
P2B R&D Fund
»» New
sciences to produce more food
»» Five
cacao clones now ready for farmer use
»» NIRDEAP
for rubber: stretching opportunities for rubber industry
»» Rubber:
the oozing tree
»» Village
processing technologies: approach to solve low production of rubber
»» Smallholder
rubber farming system "no break" in farmers' income
»»
NIRDEAP for coffee: perking up the coffee sector
»» Clonal
propagation in coffee: a promising technology
»» How
to raise healthy cacao seedlings
»» Earning
more from canes
»» Coping
with acidic soils
»» Muscovado:
the promise of the 'other sugar'
»» Rock
candy: a 'tasteful' example of a profitable home business
»» Propagating
cacao by nodal grafting
»»
Making vinegar a business venture
»» The
Philippine coffee industry: a profile
»» Prospects
in cocoa
[More
2001 Articles]
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