MULTIVARIATE-ANALYSIS OF PHENOTYPIC DIVERSITY OF COFFEA-ARABICA

Eighteen different morphological and agronomical traits observed in a field collection of 148 accessions of Coffea arabica were analyzed usi ng multivariate analysis. For the first time, a clear structure is obs erved within this species with the identification of two main groups. Accessions of group 1 have a more erect branching habit, narrower leav es and are on average more resistant to coffee leaf rust and coffee be rry disease than accessions of group 2. Group 1 mostly contains Ethiop ian accessions collected west of the Great Rift Valley, whereas group 2 mostly contain commonly cultivated varieties throughout the world an d Ethiopian accessions collected east of the Great Rift Valley in Ethi opia. This phenotypic structure together with historical evidence sugg est that group 1 has not been involved in the domestication of C. arab ica. The present results confirm that sub-spontaneous genotypes west o f the Rift Valley are highly valuable for enriching the genetic basis of cultivated C. arabica germplasm. The potential value of this materi al in breeding of C. arabica is discussed.