Coffee breeding: XXXVIII-observation on progenies of the Mundo-Novo cultivars of Coffea arabica in the Mococa experimental station

Coffee progenies of the Mundo-Novo cultivars of Coffea arabica were studied in an experiment located at the Mococa Experimental Station of the Instituto Agronômico in comparison with Bourbon-Amarelo, Bourbon-Vermelho and Caturra-Vermelho cultivars of the same species. During a period of 17 consecutive cropping years (1955-1971), Mundo-Novo yielded approximately 44% more than Bourbon-Amarelo and this cultivars yielded 60% more than Bourbon-Vermelho and Caturra-Vermelho. Among the 89 S1 'Mundo-Novo' progenies, MP 474, MP 502, MP 469, MP 492 and MP 475 yielded as much as the two best 'Mundo-Novo' S2 progenies. Greater genetic variability was noticed in the yield of the S1 progenies. The S2 MP 388-6 progeny revealed to be the highest yielding one in the experiment. The 'Mundo-Novo' progenies have a larger average tree height and diameter than the other cultivars. A positive correlation was found between tree height or tree diameter and the average yield of ripe fruits. All the highest yielding 'Mundo-Novo' progenies presented a normal rate of the weight of the ripe fruits to green coffee weight, about 6.0. The percentage of the flat seed type was about 80% for the highest yielding plants. The S1 'Mundo-Novo' progenies MP 474 and MP 452 segregated for plants with larger beans, permitting selection of high yielding coffee trees with this favorable characteristic.