Abstract

The biennial bearing and the long productive nature of coffee makes it difficult to release coffee variety within a short time span. This study aimed at evaluating the yield performance of the Arabusta hybrids and its backcrosses developed by Coffee Research Institute of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO-CRI) using the morphological traits. Nineteen coffee genotypes were evaluated at Siaya ATC and KALRO-Alupe using randomized complete block design with three replications and the morphological data for growth and yield was recorded during the year 2018. The results indicated that there was significant difference in yield among the coffee genotypes and between the sites. Yield had positive significant associations with parentage berries per node (r= 0.61), berries on the longest primary (r= 0.58) and berries per node on the longest primary(r=0.60). The genotypic coefficient of variation (GCV) values for the morphological traits varied from 6.50 to 31.01%. Broad sense heritability ranged from 0.15 to 0.61 with bean yield recording heritability of 0.31.  The number of berries on the longest primary had high broad sense heritability and high genetic advance indicating the presence of additive genes that can be used in coffee improvement through selection.

Key words: Environment, Genetic advance, Robusta, Response, Selection, Variation