Arabica growers in Brazil's Cerrado Mineiro testing Conilon plants, Nestle manager says

By Oliver Griffin

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian coffee producers in the country's Cerrado Mineiro, a stronghold for growing Arabica beans, are testing Conilon varieties amid climate change and other concerns, Nestle's agricultural coffee manager said.

Arabica coffee, which needs cooler temperatures to grow than Canephora beans, is considered to be particularly susceptible to climate change. Canephora is widely referred to as Robusta and also includes Conilon coffees.

"I recently visited the Cerrado Mineiro and there are now producers, large Arabica producers, testing Canephora, Conilon coffee," Rodolfo Climaco said in an interview late on Wednesday.

Adoption of Conilon beans by coffee farmers in the Cerrado Mineiro would mark a seismic shift for a region where, according to Brazil's national crop agency, 100% of the coffee production is Arabica.

Last September, Reuters reported that record Robusta prices were leading to an expansion of the coffee crop across Brazil, into areas and altitudes traditionally associated with Arabica.

However, while coffee growers decide what bean variety they want to grow based on yields and profitability, questions around climate change will weigh heavily as well, Climaco said.

"The big factor that makes it a decision between Arabica or not will be climate change because (Conilon) is a more resistant coffee and less susceptible to these changes."

(Reporting by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Richard Chang)

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