

Saving Arabica coffee - jdnier
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32736366

======
arh68
I can live with the tasty bananas getting wiped out, but no _arabica_?

Does anyone know what % of these plantations in Ethiopia use grafted trees? I
know grafting is very common in wine (vinifera on labrusca/..) but I haven't
learned much about coffee. I did find a source stating it was done in certain
parts of Latin America, esp. Guatemala: [1]

    
    
      Arabian coffee (Coffea arabica) produces a higher grade of 
      coffee than Canefera coffee (Coffea robusta, the kind used 
      to make instant coffee), but the former is nematode-
      susceptible while the latter is resistant. Scions from 
      seedlings of C. arabica are grafted onto seedling 
      understocks of C. robusta for coffee plantations in 
      Guatemala and other parts of Latin America.
    

A very short PDF I found discussed more than one study, the most recent being
in 2010: [2]

    
    
      In India, D’Souza et al (2010) carried out many graft 
      combinations between and within different Arabica and 
      Robusta varieties. They found enhanced photosynthetic rates 
      with Arabica-Arabica scion-rootstock grafts over ungrafted 
      plants. Arabicas grafted onto Robusta rootstocks showed 
      lower net photosynthesis, but also decreased transpiration 
      rates, suggesting that there is a productivity penalty for 
      increased drought protection as found by other authors.
    

Finally a found a large PDF [3] mentioning the prevalence again in Guatemala
at high elevation (>1000m) and nematode presence. The paper then mentions
grafting on a low-land (400~1000m) _Arabusta_ hybrid might produce good yields
in Africa.

So now I'm back to my question: is grafting prevalent in countries other than
Guatemala? At which elevations, and on what root stock? I'd love to know more
about this situation.

[1]
[http://www.hort.cornell.edu/grafting/reasons/ReasonsGBFrm.ht...](http://www.hort.cornell.edu/grafting/reasons/ReasonsGBFrm.html)

[2]
[http://toolbox.coffeeandclimate.org/userdata/tool/media/graf...](http://toolbox.coffeeandclimate.org/userdata/tool/media/grafting-
arabica-scion-onto-robusta-rootstock-improves-drought-resistance.pdf)

[3]
[http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/36/2/269.full.pd...](http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/36/2/269.full.pdf)

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kaybe
Cocoa is in a similar state - the production in Bahia (Brasil) has been
reduced massively with the introduction of the Witches´ Broom, a fungus.

[http://www.icco.org/about-cocoa/pest-a-
diseases.html](http://www.icco.org/about-cocoa/pest-a-diseases.html)

[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9147983...](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91479835)

------
akssri
> but for many, its taste cannot compare to the smooth and complex flavours of
> Arabica.

The author obviously hasn't had an awesome cup of Filter _Kaapi_ :)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_filter_coffee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_filter_coffee)

~~~
morbius
This seems like a non-sequitur, since the Indian filter coffee you linked to
commonly incorporates _both_ Arabica and Robusta beans.

> "The most commonly used coffee beans are arabica and robusta."

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lucaspiller
Panic over. Apparently Arabica coffee can be grown in artificial environments:

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7170479.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7170479.stm)

~~~
hyperbovine
At the scale needed to meet world demand? Give me a break.

~~~
protomyth
"The total area covered by Arabica and other types of coffee is about 400,000
hectares." [1]

"Almería in southern Spain has developed the largest concentration of
greenhouses in the world, covering 26,000 hectares" [2]

So, a small town in southern Spain is within 5%. It would be costly and prices
would go up, but its not impossible. At some point we need to start looking at
this type of stuff for certain luxury crops (e.g. cocoa beans). Jordan and
Norway look like they are doing some stuff using seawater, so I would imagine
others are thinking about this kind of stuff.

1) [http://equalexchange.coop/history-of-coffee-in-
ethiopia](http://equalexchange.coop/history-of-coffee-in-ethiopia) I assume
their facts are correct for this part even though it is a political site.

2)
[http://geographyfieldwork.com/AlmeriaClimateChange.htm](http://geographyfieldwork.com/AlmeriaClimateChange.htm)

------
madaxe_again
What about poor old liberica? Everybody forgets about it. Good coffee, more
robust than arabica.
[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea_liberica](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffea_liberica)

~~~
ppereira
How does liberica taste in comparison to arabica and robusta? Arabica is much
sweeter and less acidic than robusta, which is why this more fragile plant is
so popular.

------
deltaprotocol
Noooooooooooo!

------
kozukumi
Reminds me of the alternate universe in Fringe where there is no coffee :(

------
readme
It's just Ethiopian wild arabica.

Desertification is a fact. It is hard to stop when you live on the edge of a
massive fireball, isn't it?

~~~
Symbiote
"Just" the wild relative of a very important crop, which is susceptible to
disease. The genetic diversity in the wild plants is important for breeding
varieties resistantr to rust blight fungus, or any future disease that
appears.

~~~
readme
My point is that it was a misleading title. It should not have blanketed
"arabica" when it's only one specific kind of arabica, in a specific region.

~~~
Symbiote
Coffea arabica means the plant growing in Ethiopia, that's the definition
("circumscription") of the species.

