ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Clim.
Sec. Climate Services
This article is part of the Research TopicImpact of Climate change on Plantation CropsView all articles
Adopting Coffee to Climate Change: Arabica Rootstocks Enhance Physiological Performance of Robusta under Water Deficit
Provisionally accepted
- Central Coffee Research Institute, Balehonnur, India
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ABSTRACT: A nursery study was conducted over three years (2020-21 to 2022-23) at the Central Coffee Research Institute, Karnataka, India, to enhance drought tolerance in robusta coffee through grafting with tetraploid arabica rootstocks. Arabica selections with high root biomass and water-use efficiency Sln.6, Sln.9, S.4595 and Sln.5B were grafted with S.274 and C×R robusta scions, along with individual selections as checks. The experiment followed a randomized block design with three replications. Physiological parameters were recorded before stress, at incipient wilting (9.4% soil moisture) and 15 days post-recovery. The graft combination S.4595/C×R exhibited the smallest decline in mean net photosynthesis under stress (-7.7%) and superior recovery, followed by Sln.6/C×R (-14.5%) and Sln.9/S.274 (- 18.8%). Sln.5B/C×R maintained stable stomatal conductance (0.054 to 0.043 moles/m²/s) and full recovery after stress. High tolerance was further supported by minimal decline in intercellular CO₂ concentration (Ci) in S.4595/C×R and Sln.5B/C×R during stress and strong post-stress recovery. Intrinsic water use efficiency was highest in Sln.5B/C×R and Sln.6/C×R. S.4595/C×R recorded the highest relative water content (79.63%) and epicuticular wax (29.90 µg/cm²), indicating effective water retention. These grafts also showed higher chlorophyll 'a' and 'b' content, signifying improved photosynthetic capacity and drought tolerance. Overall, the combinations S.4595/C×R, Sln.5B/C×R and Sln.6/C×R showed enhanced physiological performance under moisture stress, highlighting their potential for drought-resilient coffee cultivation under changing climate scenarios.
Keywords: climate change adaptation, Coffee, drought tolerance, moisture stress, root stock scion interaction, Water use efficiency
Received: 18 Nov 2025; Accepted: 19 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Patil, P, R, Devasia, Govindappa, Babou and Senthilkumar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Somashekhargouda Patil
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