The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service is partnering with the Innovea Global Coffee Breeding Network, coordinated by World Coffee Research.
The hope of this partnership is to offer increased opportunities to develop more climate resilient coffee varieties with greater resistance to pests and diseases, according to a March 28 news release.
"Within our existing germplasm collection, we don't have enough genetic diversity to develop all of these new coffee traits quickly," U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center Director Marisa Wall said in the news release. "Now, by joining Innovea, we'll have a partnership with coffee growing countries around the world that will expand our ability to add pest and disease resistance and greater climate resilience to the coffee crop and supporting U.S. growers. And it will aid coffee production around the world."
Threats to coffee crops are real, the release reported. Kona coffee, one of Hawaii's most valuable agricultural crops, has suffered from these threats, particularly when coffee leaf rust race XXIV was found on Maui in 2020.
Other threats to coffee crops include the berry borer and root knot nematodes already in Hawaii, and expected threats such as berry disease and wilt diseases, leaf miner and new races of coffee leaf rust, according to the release.
It isn't just about known threats to coffee crops, Wall said in the release.
"Participating in Innovea also will help us prepare for future threats," she added, according to the release. "We will be receiving access to more than 300 samples or evaluations of coffee in diverse growing regions not currently in our research collection."
Innovea is sponsored by more than 200 coffee companies worldwide, which make up World Coffee Research's membership base, the release reported.
"By funding Innovea, leading coffee companies in the United States and beyond have united to drive agricultural solutions to urgently secure a diverse and sustainable supply of coffee today and for generations to come," World Coffee Research Chief Executive Officer Jennifer "Vern" Long said in the news release.
Expanded research opportunities are expected to be good for Hawaiian coffee growers, Synergistic Hawaii Agriculture Council Administrator Suzanne Shriner added, according to the news release.
"Hawaii growers have hopes of great benefits from this research," Shriner said in the release. "Coffee leaf rust has devastated our Kona Typica variety, causing extensive crop loss and tree death. New varieties through Innovea will help our growers recover from invasive pests and disease and ensure a path forward for Hawaiian coffee."
