In the northern Minas region, the dry-warm climate predisposes coffee plants to the occurrence of leaf miners, mites, cercosporiosis, and leaf scald. Aiming for the development of a cultivar adapted to these conditions, Coffea canephora Pierre ex A. Froehner clones were selected through genetic parameters under an irrigated system, without agrochemicals. Eighteen agronomic traits were evaluated. The survival rate, number of nodes per plagiotropic branch, leaf miner infestation and cercosporiosis incidence were chosen as characteristics for selection of 'Vitória Incaper 8142', once they have shown superiority of the genetic parameters. The survival rate variable was used to rank the EMCAPA 8141 Robustão Capixaba clones. Clones V2, V4, V6, V13, RC7, and RC9 were selected as more tolerant to pests and diseases and can provide genetic improvements in conilon breeding program for region. The genetic dissimilarity identified between clones allowed suitable clone combinations to be proposed for use in future crosses.

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This study proposes a selection strategy to be applied to a large number of coffee accessions, which can be useful when exploring many genotypes in breeding programs for beverage quality. Over three consecutive years, 270 Arabica coffee accessions from the Germplasm Bank of Minas Gerais, Brazil, were sensorially characterized. At the end of this period, the 20 genotypes with the greatest potential for specialty coffee production were selected, which were subjected to a second sensory characterization. Additionally, we determined the genetic correlations between the attributes that make up the final beverage score. We did not identify an attribute that was more important than the others in the organoleptic performance of the studied accessions. Through the proposed method, we identified genetic variation in our original population and selected five accessions with beverage quality considered excellent according to the SCA classification. These accessions were planted in field conditions of highly specialized farms to study their interaction with the cultivation environment and to promote the increase in production of such coffees. Additionally, the five selected accessions are being used in crosses with elite cultivars create new segregating populations. We conclude that estimation of the heritable variation of each accession, the use over the years of common check cultivars with known performance, and extremely care of experimental precision in the entire processes warrant fair comparisons.

Brazilian coffee cultivation was boosted over the last few decades by the mechanization of various field operations. Considering the influence of genetic factors on coffee harvesting efficiency, we aimed to evaluate the use of mechanized harvesting characteristics as a criterion to select progenies derived from 'Icatu' germplasm, previously evaluated for agronomic characteristics, resistance to rust and cercosporiosis. We also investigated genotypic and phenotypic correlations between semi-mechanized harvesting characteristics. Ten progenies of Coffea arabica L. were analyzed in two experimental farms during two consecutive harvests. Genetic parameters were evaluated to trace selection strategies. Four progenies that were suitable for mechanization were selected, supporting our hypothesis of the use of harvest characteristics as selection criteria.