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Ruiru 11
C tier
Ruiru 11 is a Kenyan compact hybrid cultivar released for resistance to coffee leaf rust and coffee berry disease while maintaining commercial yields under intensive management. It incorporates Catimor-type material with traditional Kenyan parents such as SL28 and SL34, producing a complex multi-line hybrid rather than a single pure pedigree. Cup quality is more variable than classic SL selections and can be good when farms select carefully and process well, but Ruiru 11 is primarily a disease-management tool for medium-altitude estates. It remains widely planted in Kenya alongside Batian and traditional varieties.
Also known as: Ruiru 11, Ruiru 11 estate plantings
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Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
Grading systems
Grades are placed along a shared scale so systems can be compared side by side.
History
Coffee Research Foundation breeding at Ruiru targeted simultaneous resistance to rust and coffee berry disease.
Multi-parent hybridisation combined Catimor rust resistance with Kenyan quality and CBD-resistant lines.
Ruiru 11 was released as a compact, disease-resistant cultivar for commercial Kenyan estates.
Adoption expanded where CBD and rust made pure SL28 and SL34 plantings costly to protect.
Batian was released as a taller, often better-cupping disease-resistant alternative to Ruiru 11.
Ruiru 11 continued in mixed plantings for yield stability under disease pressure.