A Unique Coffee Experience: Exploring Vietnam's Coffee Evolution
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Coffee in Vietnam: A Growing Legacy
Coffee is enjoyed by millions globally, with approximately 25 million farmers cultivating it across 60 tropical nations. The worldwide coffee plantation area encompasses around 11 million hectares, featuring both arabica and robusta beans.
Vietnam stands as the world’s second-largest coffee producer, with coffee farms covering 700,000 hectares. The country primarily grows robusta coffee, which is frequently transformed into food products or medicinal uses. In contrast, only 50,000 hectares are dedicated to arabica cultivation. The arabica beans are typically enjoyed as the classic morning brew many people savor daily.
The introduction of arabica coffee to Vietnam dates back to the 19th century, thanks to the French colonizers. Initially, varieties such as Typica and Bourbon were cultivated. However, over the years, these were largely supplanted by the Catimor variety, which is more resistant to pests and diseases, particularly leaf rust. Unfortunately, this shift has often resulted in lower-quality coffee. Presently, Catimor accounts for about 95% of the arabica coffee produced in Vietnam.
To enhance the quality of Vietnamese coffee and its reputation on the international stage, it is crucial to introduce new coffee varieties that can replace Catimor.
The Quest for Quality Coffee
Three decades ago, a team of naturalists and botanists embarked on an expedition to Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. This region is renowned among coffee enthusiasts for providing some of the finest beans available. Ethiopia is also home to wild arabica and robusta coffee trees, thriving in the highlands and lowlands, respectively. Alongside these popular varieties, other species like Coffea stenophylla and Coffea brevipes can also be found.
The expedition aimed to investigate wild Coffea arabica with superior traits compared to conventional arabica. The team documented various plant characteristics, their locations, and crucially, collected specimens for further research in Europe and Latin America. These wild arabica specimens were crossbred with commercial varieties known for their high yields and quality, resulting in thousands of new and unique coffee plants, each potentially capable of becoming a new global favorite.
Agronomists meticulously studied these plants, selecting the most promising candidates based on their yield, growth, and disease resistance. Developing new arabica varieties took nearly twenty years, as coffee trees grow slowly, with the first quality check occurring only two years after planting. From the thousands of hybrids created from wild arabica, just 20 were selected for multiplication in farmers' demonstration plots.
The Challenge of Propagation
Multiplying these promising new arabica hybrids is complex, as they cannot be propagated through seeds. A consistent variety like Catimor can be easily replanted using seeds from a mother plant, ensuring that both seedlings and the mother plant are genetically identical. However, the first-generation hybrids (F1-hybrids) produce seedlings that differ significantly from the parent plant, leading to a mix of unstable plants with varying yields. Farmers prefer consistency, desiring uniform plants that yield similar results.
To propagate F1-hybrids, a process called somatic embryogenesis is employed, which involves cloning a piece of leaf from a mother plant—originating from the initial cross between wild arabica and a commercial variety—under strict laboratory conditions using various plant hormones. This procedure can take over a year to produce seedlings ready for planting.
Once the first generation of plants is established, new seedlings can be created through micro-cutting, where the tops of young seedlings are cut off and replanted in nutrient-rich soil to encourage root growth. This method can generate new plants every two months, exponentially increasing availability for farmers.
In 2018, new arabica hybrids such as Centroamericano, Mundo Maya, and Starmaya were introduced in Vietnam for the first time, marking a significant milestone in Southeast Asia. These F1-hybrids have demonstrated higher and more stable yields and cup quality in Latin America, making it logical to test them in Southeast Asia, where 20% of the world's coffee is cultivated.
Although these plants are still young, agronomic data gathered over the next two to three years will validate their performance, paving the way for widespread distribution to farmers. This will ultimately allow coffee lovers to enjoy an even richer coffee experience each morning.
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