Ruiru 11 vs. Batian

One breeding programme, used twice

Sourced

To make Ruiru 11, breeders first built a tall male parent over many years of crossing, combining ancestors chosen for resistance to berry disease, among them Rume Sudan, Timor Hybrid lines and K7, with ancestors chosen for cup quality, among them SL28, SL34 and N39. They then crossed that parent by hand onto compact Catimor mother plants.

Batian came out of the male side alone. The catalogue records that it was created by single-tree selections from the fifth generation of the male parent of some Ruiru 11 progenies, and that it is a mix of three such pure lines. No Catimor mother is involved, and the catalogue lists it as tall.

The trade each one makes

Sourced

Size and spacing

Ruiru 11 is compact and was bred for intensive planting. Batian is tall, which the catalogue calls a rare combination with disease resistance.

Seed

Ruiru 11 seed is first-generation hybrid seed made by hand pollination, and the catalogue says it has been difficult to produce enough to meet farmers' demand. Batian is a mix of fixed lines and needs no hand crossing.

Feeding

The catalogue rates Ruiru 11's nutrition requirement high and Batian's medium, and describes Batian as able to cope with low management and adverse conditions.

Leaf rust

Ruiru 11 is rated highly resistant, though the summary of its own entry says tolerant. Batian is rated a step lower, at intermediate resistance.

Which farm each was designed for

CoffeeHQ explanation

A compact, very high yielding plant with a high nutrient demand rewards a grower who can plant densely and feed the trees. A grower with a few hundred trees and little money for fertiliser gets less of what that plant offers, and may not be able to obtain the seed at all.

The catalogue describes Batian as well adapted for smallholders for exactly that reason. Reading the two entries side by side, Batian looks like a response to the two things Ruiru 11 could not give that grower: seed that is easy to multiply, and a plant that tolerates being under-managed. That reading is CoffeeHQ's; the catalogue does not state the breeders' intent.

Where both stop

Sourced

Both are rated resistant to coffee berry disease and both are rated susceptible to nematodes. Both were evaluated for yield and rust resistance across twenty-three sites in fifteen countries in an international trial, and the catalogue attaches the same warning to each: how a variety performs locally depends on which races of rust are present.

Both carry Timor Hybrid ancestry, and the catalogue's general caution applies to them as to every variety that does. Resistance drawn from that one source is breaking down in several countries, and a rating read today may not hold.

The quality categories, and what they are not

Tendency, not a guarantee

The catalogue rates Batian very good and Ruiru 11 good for quality potential at high altitude, against exceptional for the SL selections both descend from. Those are three adjacent categories for potential under good management, not tasting notes.

CoffeeHQ has tasted neither on its own and says nothing about how they differ in the cup.

What to do next

• Ruiru 11 — How its two parents were built and why its seed is made by hand.
• Batian — The tall variety selected from Ruiru 11's male parent.
• SL28 vs SL34 — The older varieties both were bred to stand beside.
• Timor Hybrid — The shared source of resistance, and why it is fading.