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58 STiR tea & coffee industry international / Issue 2, 2015 (April/May) SCAE IS SERVING YOU THE WORLD OF COFFEE SCAE IS BRINGING EUROPE'S GREATEST COFFEE EVENT TO THE HEART OF THE NORDIC REGION DURING MIDSUMMER'S WEEK THIS JUNE. Join us as we go back to the roots of speciality coffee in Europe and gather the world's best coffee producers, suppliers, roasters, brewers, baristas and operators together for a celebration of coffee featuring: - 200 Exhibitors - Five World Championships - Re:co Speciality Coffee Symposium - Origins Hub - SCAE Education Programme - SCAE Excellence Awards & New Products Awards 16-18 JUNE 2015 THE SWEDISH EXHIBITION & CONFERENCE CENTRE, GOTHENBURG WWW.WORLDOFCOFFEE-NORDIC.COM Register for tickets now at www.worldofcoffee-nordic.com Photos by Rachel Samuels to Nicaragua in 1976 and is now found throughout Central and South America at higher elevations where arabica thrives. Countries that are experiencing the greatest impact such as El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala (See Guatemala Report, Pg. 40) simply do not have the resources to combat the symptoms without attacking the root cause. Robusta (coffea canephora), which was first discovered in 1898 in what was then the Belgian Congo, has developed a strong defense against roya but does not deliver the satisfying taste of a high grown arabica. Agronomists, during a period of 50 years, have since created several arabica hybrids that display resistance and taste good which is a promising development. Unfortunately there are many races of coffee rust with vary- ing degrees of virulence. These newer strains of the pathogen are unaffected by the resistance genes within specific cultivars which often take many years to develop. Geisha goodness Geisha T.2722 is resistant to Race II but susceptible to six of the 49 known races of la roya. Due to its low yield, geisha was initially rejected in favor of red caturra. The discovery of the Ethiopian mother stock could tip the balance in favor of geisha as there are no caturra or catuai coffees with cupping scores that rival geisha. In the past 11 years of Cup of Excellence competi- tion hybrids have never won the top prize. "Rust resistant hybrids that cup well are today's Holy Grail for coffee farmers around Latin America," said Boot. "Coun- tries including Colombia and Honduras have booked great re- sults with the development of new, higher quality, rust-resistant hybrids like castillo and lempira," he said. Once the technical hurdles are behind there remains a politi- cal challenge. Ethiopia is a landlocked country without a single rail line. The people of Ethiopia have been exploited for cen- turies leading to poverty, insurrection, and general distrust of Europeans and those from the New World. Boot is optimistic, "Hopefully, the Ethiopian government recognizes the development of hybrids as an economic oppor- tunity and maybe this could lead to the production of super quality rust resistant varieties in the near future." Adam Overton with the first seedling transplanted in 2013. Indigenous gesha at the 'soldier' stage. Due to the high elevation seedlings remain in the nursery for 10-12 months.