BOGOTÁ, Colombia – The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) is a pioneer in the world in obtaining rights over varieties developed by its scientific arm, the National Coffee Research Center (Cenicafé).
With a process whose procedures began in 2013, it is the first time an institution obtains rights over 10 progenies of the Castillo® variety to protect the collective equity of Colombian coffee growers.
During the process, 18 progenies of varieties developed by Cenicafé were registered on the National Register of Cultivars, and agronomic tests of distinguishability, homogeneity and stability were run for 10 of them.
The evaluations under the standards of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland) and under direct supervision of the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA) allowed the FNC to obtain rights over these 10 progenies.
“It is not only important to develop new varieties that are resistant to diseases, better climate-adapted and with great cup quality, but also to protect them as a valuable collective equity of Colombian coffee growers,” the FNC CEO, Roberto Vélez, said.
About Cenicafé
Established in 1938, the National Coffee Research Center, Cenicafé, whose headquarters are based in the municipality of Chinchiná, Caldas, is a dependency of the FNC and the most important research center in its class in Colombia, as well as a leading coffee research center in the world.
