Villa Sarchi 1

Villa Sarchi

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Well-adpat­ed to high­est alti­tude con­di­tions and tol­er­ant of strong winds.

Stature
Dwarf/Compact
Leaf tip color
Green
Bean Size
Below Average
Yield Potential
Good
Low
Very High
Quality potential at high altitude
Good
Very Low
Exceptional
Optimal Altitude
High
Coffee leaf rust
Susceptible
Susceptible
Resistant
Nematode
Susceptible
Susceptible
Resistant
Coffee Berry Disease
Susceptible
Susceptible
Resistant

Agronomics

Year of first production
Year 3
Nutrition requirement
High
Ripening of fruit
Average
Cherry to green bean outturn
Average
Planting density
5000-6000 plants/ha (using single-stem pruning)
Additional agronomic information
Well-adpated to highest altitude conditions and tolerant of strong winds.

Background

Genetic Description
Bourbon-Typica group (Bourbon related)
Lineage
A natural mutation of Bourbon
Breeder
Instituto del Café de Costa Rica (ICAFE)
History
Like Caturra and Pacas, Villa Sarchi (also called La Luisa or Villalobos Bourbon) is a natural mutation of a Bourbon population with a single-gene mutation that causes the plant to grow smaller (called “Dwarf/Compactism’). The variety was discovered in Costa Rica in the 1950s or 1960s in the northwestern region of the province of Alajuela, and has subsequently undergone pedigree selection (selection of individual plants through successive generations) there. It is not widely grown outside Costa Rica, though was introduced to Honduras in 1974 by IHCAFE.It is known for being well-adpated to the highest altitude conditions and tolerant of strong winds.Villa Sarchi is perhaps most well known as one of the namesakes of the “Sarchimor” group of coffees. In the 1970s, coffee breeders and growers in Latin America, as well as the global coffee industry that depended on coffee from the region, were extremely concerned about the recent arrival of coffee leaf rust in Latin America.In 1958 or 1959, the Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro of Portugal (CIFC), famous for its research into coffee leaf rust, received two shipments of Timor Hybrid seeds. Timor Hybrid is a natural cross between Arabica and Robusta that appeared spontaneously on the island of East Timor in 1920s. Its Robusta genetics conferred rust resistance into the variety. From the two shipments of seeds that CIFC received, breeders selected two plants for use in breeding based on their high resistance to leaf rust. In 1967, CIFC breeders began work to create new varieties of coffee that would be resistant to coffee leaf rust, but also have a compact stature that could be planted more densely. One of the rust-resistant Timor Hybrid plants, called HDT CIFC 832/2, was crossed with compact Villa Sarchi to create hybrid 361 (H361). The hybrid was dubbed “Sarchimor.” (Crosses made with compact Caturra were dubbed "Catimor.")

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