News

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.

Photographer Devon Barker was recently in San Pedro Yepocapa to visit the area’s smallholder coffee farmers and hear their thoughts on the new rust-resistant varieties provided to them by WCR.

Caravela Coffee has announced it will give $130,000 over the next two years to support the entire research-and-development agenda of World Coffee Research (WCR).

Molecular breeding is an approach that allows breeders to be more efficient and targeted in their work. Molecular breeding is different from genetic modification—it allows breeders to make predictions about the traits a plant will have based on DNA profiles. Learn how WCR is applying molecular breeding in coffee.

In this feature-length article for Standart Magazine, World Coffee Research’s Hanna Neuschwander reflects on how coffee researchers are combining the genetics revolution with how age-old breeding techniques to respond to coffee farmers’ needs. Most of the coffee we drink—and nearly all of the food we eat—has been influenced by the work of breeders. Neuschwander tells their story, and gives an fascinating insight their work.