Coffee Leaf Rust

Get the latest Coffee Leaf Rust news, research and developments covering the major fungal disease affecting coffee production worldwide. Caused by Hemileia vastatrix, the disease can lead to defoliation, reduced yields and quality losses, making resistance breeding, disease monitoring and integrated management important areas of agricultural research.

Coverage includes disease-resistant coffee varieties, pathogen races, fungicides, biological control, disease diagnostics, genetic research and climate-related disease risk. Recent international trials involving 29 Arabica varieties across 23 sites in Africa, Asia and Latin America found significant differences in resistance between varieties and locations, highlighting the importance of genotype-by-environment interactions in breeding programmes.

Find news on outbreaks, resistant cultivars, breeding programmes, field trials, fungicide performance, biocontrol research and disease-management strategies. Recent studies in Brazil have evaluated resistant genotypes and fungicide programmes, while research in Puerto Rico has examined seasonal disease patterns, cultivar resistance and environmental factors. Research in Hawaii is also assessing fungicides and biological products following the disease’s emergence there.