- Advertisement -
Kathmandu, Nepal, January 23, 2022: New research on DNA mapping of coffee in Nepal has found that Nepal needs to diversify the genetic landscape in coffee production to mitigate the risk of having a single uniform genetic background.
Terming the Nepal as a Bourbon Coffee country, the research report has concluded that environment, farming/ post-harvest practices and the genetics/varieties of coffee plants determine the agronomic performance of coffee trees, influence the climate change adaptability, efficiency of fertilizer intake to control Carbon Footprint, and the final cup quality.
The research report that was prepared on the basis of the study of 104 samples of 26 coffee varieties from 13 nurseries across the country has also found that about 70 percent of the total samples have a clear Bourbon genetic fingerprint.
‘Though genetic uniformity can be an advantage as Bourbon varieties are climate resilient and adapted to smallholders, it is also a major risk as Bourbon varieties are susceptible to leaf rust,’ the report has stated adding as ‘having a vast majority of Bourbon may lead to a major rust outbreak as happened in Latin America during the last decade.’
Unveiling the report, Senior Scientist of the NARC, Jeet Narayan Chaudhary said that the DNA Sequencing was conducted to identify the available coffee varieties of Nepal. 'The research was targeted to support the long-term objectives of improving the Nepal coffee industry’s productivity and climate change adaptability by identifying the most appropriate coffee varieties in Nepal, Chaudhary said.
The research was conducted in collaboration with the National Tea and Coffee Development Board (NTCDB), the Coffee Research Program (CRP) of the Nepal Agriculture Research Council (NARC). International Trade Centre (ITC) under the European Union-funded EU-Nepal Trade and Investment Program (TIP) had provided technical support to conduct the study.
