The association wants Timorese coffee to be included in the UNESCO heritage list

The vice-president of the Coffee Association of Timor-Leste (ACT) said that Timorese coffee, due to its historical value, should be protected as a heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

“We thought coffee could become a world heritage. This is due to its historical value. Coffee was being destroyed throughout the world,” and was ultimately saved by the opening of a coffee factory in Timor in 1927, he said in an interview. Luse Afonso Oliveira.

At that time, coffee plantations were dying due to rust, a disease that causes early leaf loss and drying of branches. The Portuguese discovered “two well-bearing bushes” in the municipality of Ermera, south of Dili, recalls Afonso Oliveira.

The collected samples were sent to Portugal and studies were conducted over many years that concluded that the two bushes were “rust resistant,” he explained.

The discovery of the plant, a natural hybrid of Arabica and Robusta, will lead to one of the largest revolutions in global genetic improvement programs for the Arabica coffee tree.

Currently, about 99% of rust-resistant Arabica coffee varieties grown worldwide have a resistant parent variety, Hybrid Timor (HDT).

“Timorese hybrid because it is a cross between Robusta and Arabica that could not be crossed. Biologically it was impossible to obtain it, because Arabica has 46 chromosomes and Robusta has 23 chromosomes, but it happened naturally,” explained the businessman, also from this sector.

In 1965, the Portuguese distributed the seeds of the Timorese hybrid throughout the world.

“This is a historical heritage that has saved coffee throughout the world and is grown in more than 50 countries,” said Afonso Oliveira, stressing that the Oeiras Research Center is ready to provide all the documentation confirming its scientific and historical significance. .

The ACT vice-president also said that the original bush died in 2016, but there are already shoots on it and that the first generation bush remained in Oeiras.

“This is a unique phenomenon in the world,” said Afonso Oliveira, also emphasizing that from a landscape perspective, if the mountains of Timor-Leste are covered with coffee, the country is doing its part to mitigate climate change.

Another thing about coffee from Timor-Leste is that it is 100% organic.

“It grows in the forest, almost like a wild plant, and we don’t take care of it, but if we start taking care of it, the quality can improve,” said the AKT vice-president, noting, however, that the quality of coffee depends on the chain, then there is from how it is collected to how it is then taken out of the machine to be served.

Timorese coffee has another feature that also makes it special: it is the only one in the world that is “produced under the shade of trees.”

“Plants that we must grow in the shade, otherwise they will not grow and produce fruit. Coffee in Timor-Leste only grows in the shade,” he explained.