Introduction of main cultivated varieties in Honduras: Pacas, Lompilla, IHCAFE90 and H3

The growth and evolution of coffee beans are different all over the world. After all, there are many different factors. Local humidity, rainfall, sunshine, altitude and soil characteristics all affect the yield and quality of coffee cultivation. Therefore, different regions and countries have their own unique varieties of coffee.

Today, Honduras has become one of the top ten coffee producers in the world and the second Arabica producer in the world. Coffee is extremely important to the Honduran economy, accounting for about 30% of the total value of exports. And Honduras established the National Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) in 1970 to help the country's coffee industry develop. Currently, only Arabica varieties are grown in Honduras, including Bourbon, Kaddura, Kaduai, Pacas, Lompilla, IHCAFE90, H1 and H3. Some kinds of beans have been introduced earlier, this time I will introduce several other varieties of coffee.

Pacas (Pacas) Pacas (Pacas) is a natural mutant of bourbon. The plant becomes smaller because of a single gene mutation. It is small in size and can be planted closely with other plants. The Pacas variety was first discovered in 1949 on a farm owned by the Pacas family in the Santa Ana region of El Salvador (hence the name Pacas). In 1960, the Salvadoran Coffee Institute (ISIC) began a pedigree selection program for Pacas (selecting a single plant through several generations). At present, the variety is still widely cultivated in El Salvador, accounting for 25% of the country's coffee production. Later, it was introduced to Honduras by the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) in 1974, mainly in the Montesirius (Montecillos) region of Honduras. The front street uses Honduran sherry barrel-treated coffee beans, including Kaddura, Kaduai, and Pacas. This coffee is brewed and tasted at the ratio of V60, cream, whisky and berries, with a black finish and a maple syrup-like taste.

Pacas (Pacas)

Lempira, a subspecies of Katim, is a cross between Timor and Kaddura, resulting in the first generation of F1 hybrid group, namely Katim Catimor. Because of its high yield, disease resistance and adaptability to low altitude and warm climate, it has been rapidly planted in American coffee plantations. Since the late 1980s, national coffee laboratories have begun to develop their own Katim subspecies. Lompilla Lempira is a Katim subspecies bred by the Honduran Coffee Institute. Recently, however, Lompilla Lempira has confirmed through scientific evaluation that it is vulnerable to coffee leaf rust and OJO DE GALLO fungal disease in Honduras and is currently recommended only in acidic or aluminum-rich soil and in warm areas.

Lompilla (Lempira)

IHCAFE90IHCAFE90 is also a subspecies of Katim, first bred by the Costa Rican Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the Centre for higher Education (CATIE), which introduced the F5 offspring of Portuguese H26 material, and named T5175. Honduras also introduced research to cultivate IHCAFE90, so it is similar to T5175. But recent science has confirmed that it is also affected by leaf rust and OJO DE GALLO fungal disease in Central America.

IHCAFE90

H3H3 belongs to the first generation (F1) hybrid, which originated from the hybrid between Kaddura and the Ethiopian native variety (E531) collected in Costa Rica. The variety is part of a variety developed jointly by the Institute of the French International Centre for Agricultural Research for Development (CIRAD), the Union of Central American Coffee Institutes (Promecafe) and the Coffee Gene Bank (Catie) in Costa Rica. However, H3 showed some sensitivity to leaf rust, but the quality was higher. Because traditional American varieties are severely genetically constrained, breeders in Central America strive to breed F1 hybrids to increase genetic diversity in the region. This variety is selected by the Honduran Coffee Institute (IHCAFE) for F1 pedigree.

H3