Catucai was developed as a cross between Icatu and Catuai.
The first selection was made in 1988 by researchers at the then Brazilian Coffee Institute (IBC) in a population of the Red Icatu cultivar, whose seeds were from Londrina and had been planted in the municipality of São José do Vale do Rio Preto, Rio de Janeiro. Progenies of these selections were planted and selected at the Fazenda Experimental de Varginha, MG, belonging to the MAPA / Procafé Foundation.
After careful breeding, later generations were selected in the municipalities of Varginha, Elói Mendes, Manhuaçu, Coromandel and Patrocínio, in Minas Gerais; Vitória da Conquista, in Bahia and Marechal Floriano, in the state of Espírito Santo, to select plants that were very productive, with high vegetative vigor and resistant to coffee rust.
This breeding program gave rise to cultivars of yellow fruits and red fruits, which were named Catucaí, a combination of the words Icatu and Catuaí.
In general, the cultivars of the Catucaí group exhibit moderate resistance to coffee rust, which means that the plants can be infected, but the damage caused is generally small, with no large leaf fall.
