KOMASTI COFFEE, the New Primadona of Arabica Coffee Planting materials

KOMASTI COFFEE, the New Primadona of Arabica Coffee Planting materials

by: Ari Wibowo

Coffee has become a lifestyle trend for young people today to just hang out with colleagues or have casual conversations with colleagues. The level of coffee consumption in Indonesia also increased by around 7.7% per year in the period 2015 – 2019. Currently, Indonesia still ranks fourth as a coffee producer with a proportion of 6.10% of the total world coffee production under Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia (USDA, 2021)[1]. Seeing the opportunity for the coffee market which is still large, it is necessary to increase coffee production.

Arabica coffee has a high economic value and dominates the world coffee market so that export opportunities are still very open. Superior planting material is an important factor in increasing coffee production. Komasti is a new superior variety of Arabica coffee which was released by the Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Center in 2013. This variety has a potential yield of ±2.1 tons of green beans per hectare with a population of 2,000 plants, of course with intensive care.

Pak Badi, an Arabica coffee farmer on the slopes of Mount Wilis – East Java, said that the Komasti variety has large and fast fruiting fruit. This member of the Sumber Makmur 2 farmer group said that in the second year, Komasti coffee had learned to bear fruit and in the third year, the fruit harvest had reached ± 1 ton of logs per 2,000 plants. Coffee fruit production will increase as the plant ages. This farmer group obtained Komasti seeds from the assistance of the Agriculture Service of Tulungagung, East Java. Another coffee farmer in Sumberbening Village, Trenggalek Regency, East Java also expressed the same thing. Komasti Arabica coffee has the advantage of fast fruiting, large and dense fruit and excellent taste, even Komasti coffee from Sumberbening village was named the 1st place winner for the best tasting coffee in Trenggalek Regency with the name “Kopi Sengungklung” in the 2020 GEBYAR KOPI event. High productivity (±1.8 tons of seeds/ha) and resistance to leaf rust disease are the most important factors that become a reference for farmers to choose Komasti coffee as a superior variety planted.

Currently, Komasti coffee has begun to spread in several parts of Indonesia, even in North Sumatra there have been several demonstration plots of Komasti coffee planted by farmer groups in the area. The presence of the Komasti coffee variety brings fresh air to Indonesian Arabica coffee farmers. Upaya untuk meningkatkan hasil kopi tentu bukan menjadi perkara yang sulit lagi. In addition, the central and regional governments continue to support the national coffee plantation and production expansion program. Puslitkoka is always present in supporting the increase in Indonesian coffee production by issuing superior planting materials. Let’s use certified superior varieties to increase farmers’ income.

Photo: Documentation of Dr. Retno Hulupi

[1] United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA), 2021