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Found seventy-three results.
News • 2018.09.18
Biological control of coffee leaf rust

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…

News • 2016.05.17
World Coffee Research publishes manual for coffee leaf rust

The Central American coffee leaf rust crisis that began in 2011-2012 exposed a dire lack of good information about best practices for controlling coffee leaf rust. There was no accessible and…

News • 2017.05.13
Coffee leaf rust resistant coffee variety overcome in Honduras

May 12, 2017. At a gathering of coffee technical experts from across Central America today, World Coffee Research confirmed that a coffee variety in Honduras, widely planted across the country…

News • 2020.09.16
Coffee Rust Is Going To Ruin Your Morning

In this article from The Atlantic, Maryn McKenna discusses the history and current challenges for farmers of the disease coffee leaf rust -- but it is also a story about larger changes impacting…

News • 2025.06.13
Coffee leaf rust knows no borders—neither does coffee science

An unprecedented global scientific collaboration illuminates the genetic and environmental interactions that underpin a devastating disease

Resources
Prevention and Control of Coffee Leaf Rust

Prevención y control de la roya del café

News • 2020.01.15
When it comes to coffee leaf rust, is shade good or bad for coffee?

Researchers and students from CIRAD and CATIE, with funding from World Coffee Research, spent nearly a year taking exhaustive measurements of the movement of rust spores in a coffee agroforestry…

News • 2021.10.29
U.S. announces $6m for coffee leaf rust research

A new four-year, $6 million grant will support coordinated research to address the threat of coffee leaf rust for coffee farmers in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Its impact, however, will extend far beyond…

News • 2019.02.19
Harnessing the power of natural enemies to fight coffee leaf rust

Dr. Robert Weingart Barreto is no stranger to Africa’s wild coffee forests. A professor at the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) in Brazil, he is the lead researcher of a World Coffee Research…

News • 2018.11.07
Get to Know Dr. Cathie Aime, a Leading Researcher of Coffee Leaf Rust

One prominent academic figure helping the fight against coffee leaf rust is Dr. Cathie Aime, a mycologist at Purdue University, who broadly studies the systematics of rust fungi. She is one of the…

News • 2020.04.21
WCR Presents—Rust: A history

Join us for a deep dive into the history of coffee's most dastardly disease: Coffee leaf rust. Histories of coffee leaf rust often, rightly, focus on its the human and economic costs. Since the…

News • 2016.06.15
World Coffee Research announces Central American regional headquarters in El Salvador

At a national cup tasting event held today in El Salvador, World Coffee Research announced that it will establish a regional headquarters office in the country. El Salvador was hit especially hard by…

News • 2018.08.28
The correlation of shade and 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…

Resources
Rust: A history
News • 2015.09.02
A Climate for Coffee

The September 2015 of National Geographic Magazine looks at the expected impacts of climate change on coffee through the lens of the 2012-2013 coffee leaf rust outbreak. The article cites David…

News • 2018.09.06
To fertilize, or to spray?: The link between nutrition and leaf rust

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?

News • 2016.11.30
Quiet heroes of coffee science gather in China to share latest research

At the biannual International Conference on Coffee Science, held this year in China's Yunnan province, the world's top coffee researchers gathered to share their recent findings. World Coffee…

News • 2017.05.24
New coffee variety scores 90 points in Nicaragua Cup of Excellence competition

A coffee variety called Centroamericano, part of a new class of F1 hybrid varieties, has proven its quality potential by earning a score of 90 out of 100 points in the world’s leading competition and…

News • 2018.05.08
Understanding Farmer's Relationship with New Plants

In 2017, World Coffee Research and our partner Anacafe distributed seedlings of the new F1 hybrid Centroamericano to 179 farmers in San Pedro Yepocapa, Guatemala, to help the smallholder farmers in…

News • 2018.08.21
Photo essay: Farmers’ F1 hybrids in Guatemala

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.

News • 2022.03.10
WCR Advocacy Aims to Increase U.S. Government Support for Coffee

World Coffee Research has added advocacy activities in the U.S. to its global leadership portfolio this year. WCR’s advocacy aligns with the National Coffee Association’s (NCA) legislative agenda.…

News • 2023.02.11
U.S. coffee welcomes new bill to protect coffee supplies

WCR applauds the introduction of the Coffee Plant Health Initiative Amendments Act (CPHIAA, H.R. 965). The amendment authorizes research to combat pests and diseases that threaten coffee supplies and…

News • 2021.06.11
Update from the East Africa Breeding Hub

The East African Breeding Hub (EABH) was established in 2018 by World Coffee Research (WCR), participating countries, and the hub host, the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) in order to support the next…

News • 2021.01.08
Researching variety performance in Australia

Coffee has been grown in Australia since the 1800s, though never in a commercial capacity. But the country is capable of producing specialty coffee, and is now participating in research trials with…

News • 2020.12.11
Dr. Timothy Schilling: A Life in Coffee

To honor the retirement of Dr. Timothy Schilling, founder of World Coffee Research, we talked to a dozen people who have worked closely with him over the course of his coffee career, which began in…

Programs
F1 Hybrid Trials

Understanding the promise of a new class of coffee varieties for climate change and farmer livelihoods

Focus Country
Mexico

Mexico is one of the top 10 exporters of coffee in the world, with a rich coffee heritage. Most Mexican coffee is commercial-grade washed arabica, but the country has increased specialty production.…

Resources
Coffee varieties catalog

An interactive website exploring Arabica and Robusta varieties

News • 2018.10.09
A new Arabusta for the 21st century

On the island of East Timor, sometime in the 1920s, an impossible legend was born: the Timor Hybrid. Somehow, a C. arabica plant and a C. canephora (Robusta) plant reproduced and created a natural…

News • 2018.07.30
Speeding up genetic progress

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…

News • 2016.02.02
Breeding program milestones for 2015

The coffee industry cannot single-handedly reverse climate change. Our best hope for sustaining the supply of high quality coffee in the 21st century is to focus on making the coffee plant more…

News • 2019.08.22
Coming along in Kenya

Kenya was one of the first countries to be included in the International Multilocation Variety Trial.

News • 2016.12.08
International Multilocation Variety Trial expands to 23 countries

Four new countries have committed to participate in the International Multilocation Variety Trial (IMLVT), the largest, collaborative, global coffee research platform and variety exchange in history.…

News • 2019.12.11
Hybrid harvest

In 2019, WCR-bred F1 hybrids reached an exciting milestone: the first production harvest. While we have carefully monitored and measured each plants' growth since it arrived in the field, the…

News • 2019.09.10
F1 Hybrids Explainer

While these varieties are still relatively new to coffee farmers and industry, it is difficult to imagine a future without them. No varieties in the past have been able to combine traits that matter…

News • 2018.06.21
Two new groups of F1 hybrid crosses in 2017/2018!

In 2017 and 2018, World Coffee Research has created two new groups of F1 hybrid crosses for evaluation in Central America, bringing the total number of F1 hybrids in evaluation to 66. The latest…

News • 2017.07.14
Experimental F1 hybrids in the field

In 2016, we established trials of 46 new F1 hybrids, derived from crosses between 8 wild Arabicas in the WCR Core Collection and three rust-resistant Sarchimor varieties (Obatá, Marsellesa and IAPAR…

News • 2020.09.02
It starts with a seed—but what seed is it?

WCR undertook crucial work in 2019 to advance our Nursery Development Program. Before nursery training programs begin, program workers typically conduct a baseline assessment of the seed and nursery…

News • 2019.06.07
Coffee’s missing seed sector

The best plants and farming practices in the world aren’t worth a thing if they are not available to the farmers who need them. Though WCR is not a seed company or extension service, our work doesn’t…

News • 2019.10.22
Coffee against the odds

In fall 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria ripped across Puerto Rico and destroyed millions of coffee trees. It was a devastating blow: The island was on track to have the best harvest in 10 years,…

Resources
Healthy, Productive and Environmentally Friendly Coffee Farms

Cafetales sanos, productivos y ambientalmente amigables

News • 2020.01.23
Mercon announces long-term partnership with World Coffee Research

This week, global green coffee supplier Mercon Coffee Group announced a long-term partnership with World Coffee Research. With the announcement, Mercon becomes the only green coffee supplier to fill…

News • 2020.01.02
2019: A Year in Review

Highlighting some of WCR's greatest accomplishments in 2019.

News • 2019.11.12
ASIC 2020: Montpellier, France

The Association for the Science and Information on Coffee Conference, also known as the ASIC Conference, will be held from June 22 to 25 2020 in Montpellier, France. This year's theme is 'connecting…

Programs
Why breeding?

Variety improvement is essential for the future of coffee

News • 2015.10.03
WCR welcomes molecular genetics and genomics leader

World Coffee Research is pleased to announce the appointment of Patricia Klein, Ph.D., to the position of molecular biologist in coffee genetic diversity and genomic selection. Dr. Klein is an…

News • 2016.09.02
A new center for coffee research in Texas

Texas A&M University administrators and researchers are stepping up efforts to protect a worldwide multibillion dollar-a-year industry. In response to challenges facing coffee, including diseases,…

News • 2016.08.12
World Coffee Research welcomes new team members

Over the last few months, World Coffee Research has hired new team members to support programs in Central America, where we have also recently established a regional headquarters office in El…

News • 2016.04.21
General Assembly for Members

Last week, World Coffee Research held its first-ever General Assembly for members at the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) in Atlanta. At the assembly, we launched our 2015 Annual Report…

News • 2016.04.16
WCR wins 2016 SCAA Sustainability Award

The SCAA's Sustainability Award celebrates innovative projects to expand and promote sustainability within the coffee world. In addition to recognizing the hard work of the individuals, businesses…

News • 2016.04.12
WCR @ SCAA

Where to find us in Atlanta this week

News • 2017.07.12
WCR welcomes new partnerships director

World Coffee Research is thrilled to welcome Greg Meenahan as our first partnerships development director. Before joining WCR, Meenahan was the Chief Operating Officer of Child Aid, an international…

News • 2017.03.08
Starmaya—the future of coffee?

A new coffee variety called Starmaya may dramatically shift prospects for coffee producers in the years to come. Starmaya is the first variety of its kind: An F1 hybrid that is propagated by seed,…

News • 2018.03.22
New manual for resilient coffee farming

A new Spanish-language manual promotes research-backed farm practices and disease management in a simplified format geared toward small family farmers. The manual, titled Guía para trabajo con…

News • 2018.04.11
WCR Welcomes New Molecular Breeder

World Coffee Research is thrilled to welcome Lucile Toniutti, an agronomist specialized in plant breeding, as our new molecular breeder. Toniutti holds a PhD in the ecophysiology and adaptation of…

News • 2018.04.19
2017 Annual Report

Using advances in agricultural science, it is possible to dramatically improve coffee yields, coffee quality, climate resilience, and farmer livelihoods. Our globe-spanning research is designed to…

News • 2018.06.15
Request for proposals: Coffee Nursery Training Manuals

WCR is seeking the services of a professional team to develop two training manuals for a Nursery Development Program, which will operate in several coffee producing countries globally. The Nursery…

News • 2018.09.11
What to check out at the upcoming ASIC conference

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…

News • 2018.11.30
WCR to deepen work in Latin America

At the beginning of October, a five-year, $36.4 million initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build the agricultural sectors of coffee and cacao in five countries—El Salvador,…

News • 2021.09.30
CEO Update

For International Coffee Day 2021, we are taking a moment to reflect on what we’ve accomplished at WCR in the past couple years and what we have in store for the months and years ahead.

Programs
Farmer Profitability

Farmers—the stewards of coffee productivity and quality—must be profitable to continue farming, and for the entire industry to thrive.

News • 2022.09.14
Final Four: WCR F1 hybrids complete phase 1 trials

Seven years later, the first phase of trials is wrapping up and four high-performing candidates have been identified.

News • 2022.10.13
Exploring the wild: cupping diverse arabica accessions

Experiment further characterizes WCR-CATIE Core Collection

News • 2022.11.10
World Coffee Research launches Innovea Global Coffee Breeding Network

A collaborative network to accelerate climate resilience and secure long-term coffee supplies

News • 2022.12.01
International Multi-location Variety Trial produces initial global results

Worldwide data collection is ongoing and further analysis is to come

News • 2023.04.17
World Coffee Research and collaborators awarded new USDA AFRI grant to modernize coffee breeding

Collaborative project will explore technologies and methodologies to make phenotyping—and thus breeding—faster, more efficient, and cost-effective.

News • 2023.06.15
World Coffee Research supports the long-term revitalization of El Salvador’s coffee sector

Agricultural R&D innovations to support new regulations and help assure the distribution of high-quality, disease-resistant plants to farmers nationwide

News • 2023.09.14
Showcasing the Komasti variety for farmers in Indonesia

Demonstration plot program illustrates what Komasti, an Indonesian arabica variety, can do for farmers in the face of climate change

News • 2023.10.16
Cultivating scientific exchange in Vietnam: a learning journey

World Coffee Research supports 13 researchers from producing countries to attend ASIC conference, learn about Vietnamese coffee production

News • 2024.09.13
Supporting farmer access to high-performing coffee varieties in Peru

Establishment of 10 new seed lots across 3 major coffee-producing regions in Peru will promote increased farmer choice and access to locally relevant varieties

News • 2024.11.01
The roots of Robusta—cultivating growth for a species once overlooked

How World Coffee Research is fast-tracking innovation for robusta to forge the future of coffee Extended version

News • 2024.11.25
Second annual member day fosters a deeper connection to global variety development research

Member company representatives from across the world gather in Costa Rica to engage first-hand with WCR’s work

News • 2025.04.16
Seeds of hope: a photo essay

New varieties, new possibilities for Peru's coffee sector

WCR is a 501(c)5 non-profit agricultural research organization registered in the state of California.

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