Progenies derived from crosses among India and Africa accessions and Catuai and Mundo Novo cultivars of Coffea arabica were evaluated as to yielding potential and drought tolerance, in two experiments located at the Experimental Center of the Instituto Agronômico, Campinas, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Yield data from 13 continuous harvests as well as from four-year-drought tolerance evaluations, revealed that the most promising drought tolerance sources were the accessions C 1110-10 (BA-10 cultivar - India), C 1120-16 (X321 cultivar - Tanzania) and C 1521-2 (BE-5 cultivar - Costa Rica). In such drought and yield evaluations it is very important to collect as many yield data as possible, since some progenies presenting drought tolerance showed low yield. Yield data from other experiments, related to the same progenies were also included and discussed.
coffee tree; Coffea arabica L.; drought tolerance; progenies