Madagascan Coffee

Posted November 11, 2008 by Sarada Krishnan, Director of Horticulture

Coffea commersoniana in Madagascar  Humid forest in Madagascar
Plants at the genebank have been grafted on to a root stock and while there, one of their technicians demonstrated the process of grafting coffee.

Coffee belonging to the genus Coffea has 103 described species, of which 58 are native to Madagascar. Of these 58 species, many of them are endangered and my research focus is on looking at the genetic diversity of four different species and making recommendations for conservation management. Though these wild coffee species are not cultivated for commercial purposes, it is crucial to conserve the genetic diversity within this genus, with many implications for future breeding.
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