[[{“value”:”Image: World Coffee Research
World Coffee Research on the lack of seed traceability, the importance of building infrastructure, and the need to secure a formal coffee seed sector where solutions are tailored to each local market.
Climate change is one obstacle, harvest migration is another, but the disparity of a formal coffee seed sector is an invisible problem that’s an enhancing risk for farmers, according to World Coffee Research (WCR).
“Without a strong seed sector, farmers often do not have access to varieties that could help support productivity and profitability – even if these varieties do exist in their country,” says Emilia Umaña, WCR Nursery Development Program Manager.
“Alternatively, farmers may end up purchasing planting materials sold as improved varieties that actually turn out to be something completely different. Coffee trees have a lifespan of 20 to 30 productive years, and establishing new planting areas or undergoing renovation are cost-prohibitive activities for farmers, so planting the wrong material can have consequences not only in the near-term but for generations to come.”
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, many farmers from developing countries do not benefit from the advantages of using quality seed because of a combination of factors, including inefficient seed production, distribution systems, and quality assurance.
There are so many factors at play and many inconsistencies when it comes to seed sector distribution. Some countries have technical assistance programs and specialised national research centres dedicated specifically to coffee, some face regulation under the jurisdiction of government entities, and some rely solely on locally developed materials while others permit new varieties and planting materials to be exchanged. Quite often, coffee growers create their own channels to propagate and exchange material, which increases the risk of genetically mixed plants and decreases overall performance.
According to WCR, when coffee leaf rust, Hemileia vastatrix, hit Central America in 2012, many coffee-producing families started to renovate their crops and plant new trees that were rust resistant and still highly productive. Even so, this region lacks a professional seed sector to provide producers with a guarantee that material being sold is genetically conforming and of high quality.
To dive deeper into the quality assurance of coffee seed facilities, WCR surveyed 52 seed plantations across five major coffee producing countries in Latin America, a region with a history of coffee production for approximately 200 years. The report focused on countries where coffee crops are deeply intertwined in the economic development of Latin America, including El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru.
WCR undertook a multi-factor, multi-location analysis of each country’s landscape for seed accessibility, and to assess seed supply and quality assurance of planting material.
The study began in 2020 and ran until 2023. During this time, stakeholders were interviewed and genotyped leaf samples were assessed for genetic conformity of plants, a process known as Seed Lot Assessment. WCR also supported the cleanup of 22 lots which had previously undergone a genetic assessment to eliminate plants that did not meet the genetic criteria for each given variety.
“Latin America is a major source of Arabica coffee for the global industry. Given the significance of coffee in the region to the industry and our technical skill and interests in strengthening quality assurance in planting material distribution systems, WCR participated in a U.S. Department of Agriculture funded program [called Maximising Opportunities in Cacao and Coffee in the Americas] which enabled us to deepen our work in quality assurance in the region,” Umaña says.
These activities helped WCR identify sector needs and training requirements for good agricultural practices (GAPs) for growers, as well as the current genetic quality of planting materials accessible to Arabica coffee farmers across these countries.
“Previously, we had a sense that genetic contamination was happening in Arabica plantations in the region,” says Umaña. “The data found through this work created a window to look at this situation in a more proactive manner. We can better understand the consequences of not implementing GAPs that are specific for coffee seed production and, even more importantly, we can find and promote the best seed sources available.”
Image: World Coffee Research
Key findings were presented in a WCR technical report, released in March 2024. It highlighted that more than 36 per cent of participating seed lots had very high rates of genetic non-compliance, with 50 per cent or fewer tested trees showing genetic conformity. WCR says trees grown from these materials will not have the expected performance and characteristics sought by growers.
Only 26 per cent of seed lots had high rates of genetic conformity of 90 per cent or higher. Three coffee varieties showed higher levels of compliance: Anacafe 14, Parainema, and Marsellesa, and seed lots that focused on producing them tended to have more true-to-type materials.
“Even when genetic conformity was present, seed plantations still didn’t always follow good agricultural practices for seed production, such as isolation to avoid cross-pollination, traceability protocols, and adequate storage, putting their seeds at risk of contamination,” Umaña says.
She adds that structural challenges exist, like the lack of official certification tools, low profitability as many producers are not willing to pay more for quality, and limited access to technical assistance for seed production, all of which hold seed growers back.
“Overall, we found results vary immensely across the different countries and varieties. Some countries demonstrated a large percentage of genetic conformity among the sampled seed sources that score 90 per cent or higher in this regard, whereas other countries demonstrated seed sources that either score very high or very low – with only a few sources falling in between these extremes,” Umaña says. “This means, even though the seed sector in all coffee producing countries face similar challenges, the solutions and activities designed to tackle these issues must be tailored to local realities.”
Umaña says the fact that the results highlighted in this report are so variable across countries and varieties underscores the risk to which farmers are exposed.
“There is very little infrastructure currently in place to ensure farmers have access to the right materials when they need them, even if they buy seeds or seedlings from commercial operators. The fact most of the seed that is commercially available is treated as regular commercial coffee indicates clearly there is a lack of traceability practices being applied throughout the value chain,” Umaña says. “Our sector needs to understand that producing seed is not the same as producing regular coffee, and that specifically, implementation of good agricultural practices is needed to guarantee the genetic and phytosanitary quality of planting materials.”
Such quality of planting materials depends on two main characteristics. First, is the phytosanitary quality that comes from the implementation of good agricultural practices that ensure healthy trees. Second, is the genetic quality that comes from the tree conforming to the variety that is expected.
“Coffee growers often rely on informal sources of planting material, such as saving seed from their own farms, or farms around their community. Without quality control in the production of seed or in nurseries, there is no way to ensure the genetic quality of the planting material since seed may be mixed with other varieties due to cross-pollination of the mother trees or a lack of traceability practices in the process and preparation of the seed,” Umaña says.
Even in the case of a seed producer offering planting material that is healthy and vigorous – which in many cases is not – if it is of a different variety than desired by the farmer who purchases it, the plants will perform differently than expected and create production risk for the farmer.
“For example, if a farmer is looking for a variety that is resistant to coffee leaf rust, they may invest in the purchase and cultivation of a few thousand trees for their farm that are supposedly resistant to the fungus, only to later discover they are, in reality, susceptible to the disease, generating loss of yield and potential returns on their investment,” Umaña says.
As such, the establishment of a formal coffee seed sector will provide verified, high-quality planting material to coffee growers, and help secure supply for the industry.
“With many competing challenges facing coffee, it’s exciting to showcase the concrete steps our partners have taken to tackle quality assurance in planting material distribution systems. These efforts make quality seed more accessible and ensure farmers can have confidence in the coffee trees they plant today – and can count on them to perform as expected in the decades ahead,” says WCR CEO Dr Vern Long.
Higher-yielding coffee trees that meet the quality requirements of the market would also translate into reduced risk throughout the production process for farmers looking for varieties or materials that have the potential to increase farm productivity and quality, and a higher income for these growers and their communities.
“Breeders are working really hard to create better crosses – varieties and hybrids that can perform better in different agro-climatic areas and under different farm management schemes – but if the seed and nursery sector is not prepared to protect the improved characteristics of those materials, such potential might not reach the hands of farmers,” Umaña says.
Image: World Coffee Research
WCR is now focused on finding the best and most genetically conforming seed sources in Latin America. Identifying these sources can support farmers and other stakeholders of the sector in locating the right varieties for their particular needs. Furthermore, WCR has supported seed producers whose lots exhibited a lack of conformity, to undertake a cleanup and pinpoint the trees not true-to-type. These trees were then eliminated from fields so farmers could effectively promote the best genetic quality of the seed they produce.
“In recognition of these activities, though, it is very important to clarify that the seed sources that may be dealing with low genetic conformity typically do so unknowingly and have no intention to harm farmers,” Umaña says. “These types of genetic quality assurance tools that support the success of both seed producers and farmers alike were not widely available for the sector until recently.”
WCR has plans to support coffee producing countries in the release of multiple new varieties and materials. Umaña says there is tremendous effort being dedicated to WCR’s breeding networks and partners to help close the gap of accessibility to and availability of improved materials for coffee growers.
“It is very important for the industry to get involved in the professionalisation of the seed sector – either directly or by supporting the members of their respective value chains – as seed producers and nurseries are the foundation of our industry and have an immense impact on the quality of the beans farmers will harvest in the coming years,” she says.
In the meantime, WCR will look to deepen its understanding of Latin America’s local seed sector, and strengthen alliances with national coffee institutes and other stakeholders in each country.
“Our goal is to continue collaboration in developing and implementing activities to secure a robust, efficient, and effective planting material system which ensures the right materials get into the hands of farmers,” Umaña says.
This article was first published in the July/August 2024 edition of Global Coffee Report. Read more HERE.
The post WCR on securing the coffee seed sector appeared first on Global Coffee Report.
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