In the North-West mountainous provinces of Vietnam, the H2020 BREEDCAFS project investigates since 2017 the agronomic performances of the new Arabica F1 hybrids created by Cirad and ECOM compared with local Catimor varieties. These varieties are phenotyped at 11 on farm-demonstration plots (called “DEMOplots” planted in 2018 along an altitudinal gradient in the Son La and Dien Bien provinces. The first harvest of these DEMOplots (spring 2020) was assessed by local CIRAD scientists Pierre Marraccini (UMR DIADE) and Clément Rigal (ABSys) and the PhD student, Thuan Sarzynski (UMR DIADE, ECOM/CIRAD fellowship) in close collaboration with NOMAFSI (Northern Mountainous Agriculture and Forestry Science Institute).
After a washing post-harvest process, the cup quality of these varieties was tested during an official meeting organized by the local coffee Phuc Sinh company with a panel of accredited Q-graders (Certification created by the Coffee Quality Institute and the Specialty Coffee Association) from different local coffee companies.
The results of this cupping event highlighted a higher quality of F1 hybrids Starmaya and Centroamerico (H1), as well as the pure line variety cv. Marsellesa (Sarchimor), compared to the local Catimor varieties. A preliminary cup-test performed by ECOM-Vietnam Q-graders on the same samples confirmed these tendencies. In parallel and in the framework of BREEDCAFS project, biochemical analysis are conducted by Claudine Campa and Cécile Abdallah (UMR DIADE) in IRD labs (alkaloids and phenolic compounds), by Illycaffè-Italy (volatile compounds together with cup-tests) and by Eurofins in Nantes (terpenes).
These preliminary results have led all the partners to set up new collaborations to continue to evaluate these varieties and initiate their accreditation process in the national variety catalogue, but also to set-up a 10ha agroforestry cluster with these new hybrids in Son La province. Several local roasters are already interested in these new varieties. All these results will be presented to scientific partners, farmers associated to the project, local authorities and coffee private Compagnies (ECOM-Vietnam, DETECH, Phuc Sinh…) during the “BREEDCAFS Workshop” that will occur the 20th April in the NOMAFSI station of Mai Son (Son La province).
