{"id":12705,"date":"2023-01-12T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-12T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freshcup.com\/?p=12705"},"modified":"2023-01-04T12:41:07","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T18:41:07","slug":"coffee-genetics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/coffee-genetics\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Genes: Genetic Diversity And The Future of Coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lush countryside, rolling rivers, and an active, majestic volcano are among the indelible sights adorning Turrialba, a small city in Costa Rica\u2019s Central Valley. Nestled in this charming origin landscape is a white-and-red, Mission-style building that may be one of the most important institutions to the future of coffee. <\/span><\/p>\n

This sprawling entity is the <\/span>Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center<\/span><\/a> (better known as CATIE)\u2014an institute devoted to agricultural development and biological conservation\u2014and among its prized holdings is a gene bank of seeds of nearly 2,000 varieties of coffee.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gene banks like the one at CATIE have received increased attention in recent years. Rising temperatures and other symptoms of our changing planet have raised questions about coffee producers\u2019 ability to grow a sustainable supply of coffee. Gene banks preserve coffee\u2019s genetic resources, providing source material researchers can draw on to potentially breed the coffee varieties of the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maintaining these gene banks is the focus of the <\/span>Global Conservation Strategy for Coffee<\/span><\/a>, a recent partnership between <\/span>World Coffee Research<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Global Crop Diversity Trust<\/span><\/a> (better known as Crop Trust) to ensure coffee\u2019s diversity. With coffee\u2019s genetic resources being lost at a rapid pace, the strategy aims to unite the industry to preserve this precious material. As World Coffee Research Executive Director Tim Schilling puts it, \u201cWe have to step up and take control of the genetic resources that dictate the limits and open the possibilities for the future of our industry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Preservation In The Bank<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n

An estimated 125 million people in over seventy countries depend on the coffee value chain for their livelihoods. Those on the production side have seen higher temperatures, droughts, diseases, and a host of other climate-related factors contribute to decreased yields and quality. In 2016, the <\/span>Climate Institute<\/span><\/a> released the report <\/span>A Brewing Storm, presenting a stark forecast for coffee\u2019s future<\/span><\/a>: \u201cClimate change is projected to cut the global area suitable for coffee production by as much as 50 percent by 2050,\u201d it read.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"gene
Photos courtesy of World Coffee Research<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Further challenging coffee\u2019s future is that arabica\u2014the species behind specialty coffee production\u2014has become extremely \u201cgenetically constricted.\u201d This constriction is primarily due to arabica\u2019s history, as most of the varieties grown today descend from a handful of plants that left Yemen on colonial trade routes. <\/span><\/p>\n

Also contributing to the loss of genetic diversity is the centuries-long tendency of coffee producers to gravitate toward cultivating arabica that performs well in cup quality and yield. \u201cWhat that means is that arabica has become very susceptible to the same issues,\u201d says Brian Lainoff, lead partnerships coordinator of Crop Trust.<\/span><\/p>\n

With more genetic diversity comes more options for surviving these issues; World Coffee Research\u2019s Hanna Neuschwander offers the analogy of a toolbox. \u201cYou can do a little with a hammer, but you can do a lot more with a hammer, a wrench, and a screwdriver,\u201d she says. \u201cThe more genetic diversity, the bigger the toolbox for solving problems that come along.\u201d The gene bank might just be the ultimate toolbox for building coffee\u2019s durability.<\/span><\/p>\n

So how do gene banks work? For the world\u2019s crops, gene banks house seeds from an extensive assortment of varieties, including both active varieties and those no longer found. Gene banks conserve and catalog these varieties and share them with the following:<\/span><\/p>\n