EVALUATION OF METHODS OF REPLACING ESTABLISHED UNCAPPED ARABICA COFFEE WITH A NEW IMPROVED CULTIVAR

An evaluation of methods for replacing established uncapped, multiple stem, arabica coffee cv. French Mission with cv. Ruiru 11 arabica hybr id in the field was carried out at Ruiru, Kenya. When Ruiru 11 was rai sed on a single stem using the hedgerow system, a mixed stand of Ruiru 11 and French Mission gave the largest mean yields of clean coffee. T he next largest yields were obtained by the complete replacement of Fr ench Mission with Ruiru 11 grown at a spacing of 2 X 1.5 m and trained on a single stem system. However, in economic terms, replacing the es tablished coffee partially or sequentially with Ruiru 11 trained on a single stem proved to be the best method.