News and knowledge

Costly fungicides and pesticides aren’t the only way to control pests and diseases on a farm. Left alone, nature has developed complex and effective ways of reducing damage by diseases. Such natural control exists because every organism in nature has a range of natural enemies—competitors, parasites or predators—that are capable of reducing the size of its population. In the wild, coffee leaf rust has its own range of natural enemies.

Today, a partnership led by illycaffè and Lavazza, together with Istituto di Genomica Applicata, IGA Technology Services, DNA Analytica, and the universities of Trieste, Udine, Padova, and Verona, released the results of the Coffea arabica Genome Sequencing Project. This unique achievement in genome research will accelerate scientific efforts to ensure the future of coffee agriculture, which is threatened by climate change. World Coffee Research (global coffee industry R&D nonprofit organization) is making the full genome sequence public via its website today. This is the first genome sequence for Coffea arabica available to the public.

Next week, coffee scientists from all over the world will gather in Portland, Ore., for a biennial conference dedicated to the science and technology of coffee. This conference, known as ASIC, always attracts the best and brightest of coffee research. World Coffee Research (WCR) will be engaged in a wide range of activities at the conference; below is a list of what we’ll be taking part in and some of what we’ll be checking out at ASIC 2018.

What is better for the coffee plant: to spray against rust, or to give the plant better nutrition to allow it to grow stronger and as a result fight rust?

Many existing approaches for controlling coffee leaf rust are one-sided: Use rust-resistant varieties, or spray with as much fungicide as you can afford. But it is increasingly evident that we need to open new fronts in the fight against coffee leaf rust.