Screening of Exotic Collections of Arabica Coffee Genotypes for Coffee Berry Borer and Coffee Leaf Rust Disease Incidence

In India, commercial cultivation of coffee relies upon two important species like Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee) and Coffea canephora (Robusta coffee). In the consumer market, arabica coffee is preferred for its fine beverage quality, aromatic characteristics and low caffeine content compared to robusta coffee. In India coffee is grown under natural agroecosystem offers arabica coffee to fetch premium price in the international market. In spite of the commercial importance and the appropriate environmental conditions, the drastic reduction of arabica coffee area in India is likely associated with lack of adaptability for each ecological zone of the region, susceptibility to coffee berry borer and leaf rust and increased cost of production coupled with low productivity (470 kg clean coffee/ha). Therefore to address the issues identification of resistance source is the important criteria in crop improvement programme. With this background the study was aimed at screening of exotic collections of Arabica coffee genotypes maintained at Central Coffee Research Institute (CCRI), Balehonnur, Karnataka, India against Coffee Berry Borer (CBB) and Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR). The experiment was laid out randomized block design with three replications. Results revealed that, the CLR disease severity infection was ranged from 1.34 to 32.67 per cent and the genotypes S.1495, S.1561, S.2504, S.2509, S.2510, S.2529, S.2602 and S.2724 exhibited moderately resistant to leaf rust disease infection based on mean per cent disease severity level (1-5%). Hence, these genotypes will be valuable as new sources of resistance to these pathogens in the future and can be utilized in coffee breeding programmes in India. Similarly, all the genotypes utilized in the study were established low to least infestation of coffee berry borer (1.03 to 5.03 %).