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PELITA PERKEBUNAN, Volume 38, Number 2, August 2022 Edition
Adaptation of introduced robusta coffee clones in some agroclimate types in East Java
INTRODUCTION
More than 70 countries produce coffee,
but the majority of global output comes from
just the top five producers: Brazil, Vietnam,
Colombia, Indonesia, and Ethiopia. Exports
of Arabica totaled 80.47 million bags whereas
Robusta exports amounted to 49.54 million
bags. In 2021, it was estimated that Indonesia
produced approximately 774.6 thousand
metric tons of coffee. Indonesia is one of
the world’s leading producers of coffee, and
one of its leading exporters (ICO, 2021).
There are about 120 different types of
coffee plants that can be distinguished botani-
cally. However, the most popular types of
coffee plants that also produce the majority of
all coffee beans are Arabica and Robusta
(Wintgens, 2004). Indonesia’s coffee plan-
tations cover total area of approximately 1.24
million hectares, 933 hectares of Robusta
plantations and 307 hectares of Arabica plan-
tations. More than 90 percent of total plan-
tations are cultivated by small-scale growers
(Ditjenbun, 2021).
Robusta coffee (Coffea canephora Pierre
ex. A. Froehner) first came to Indonesia in
1900 from Belgian Congo (now Zaire), planted
in Malang (Mawardi & Hulupi, 2003). Robusta
coffee which was first developed in Indonesia
in 1911-1930 was the result of breeding
activities in the Dutch government experi-
mental station in Bangelan, Malang, East Java
(Puslitkoka, 2016). At present, Robusta coffee
is mostly cultivated on the island of Sumatra
(70.22%), which more than half of Robusta
coffee production was significantly produced
in three provinces, namely South Sumatra
(34.8%), Lampung (20.1%) and Bengkulu
(10.2%) (Ditjenbun, 2016).
In cultivation, C. canephora is divided into
two main groups, namely C. canephora var.
Robusta and C. canephora var. Kouilou, however
their morphology is not easily distinguishable.
A study revealed that a Kouilou population
in Brazil is named Conilon variety. Meanwhile
Behailu (2008) classify Robusta coffee into two
groups based on the origin of the develop-
ment area, namely Congo group which is
Robusta coffee from Central Africa and
Cameroon and Guinean group is the name
of Robusta coffee originating from Ivory Coast
(Sumirat et al., 2007).
Coffee quality is determined by geno-
type and environmental factors which related
to biochemical components in coffee beans
that have accumulated during growth period
(Cheng, 2016). Globally, Robusta coffee is
generally mostly derived from ex-situ collec-
tions in several countries with a collection
of 700 original genotypes which are based
on the area of distribution, characterization
and evaluation. Tshilenge et al. (2009) state
that not only breeding programs can improve
the agronomic traits of genotypes, but also
plant yield characteristics and genotype and
environmental interactions. Nearly a decade
Robusta coffee of FRT series have been
introduced to Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa
Research Institute (ICCRI) from France.
However, only a limited information was
obtained related with their adaptation to
agroclimate conditions of Indonesian in general
and especially in East Java. Therefore, there
was a need to study the genotype response
to the environment with soil type, altitude
topography, latitude, and climate to maintain
optimum production and have wide or site-
specific adaptations. The objectives of this
study was to investigate the adaptation and
stability of production of several introduced
FRT series in East Java agroclimate.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The plant materials used in this study
were introduced clones from France i.e. the
FRT series consisting of FRT 04, FRT 06,
FRT 07, FRT 09, FRT 23, and FRT 65 which
had been planted in 2009, located in six coffee