André Charrier is professor of genetics and plant breeding at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Montpellier(ENSAM), directorof the corresponding research unit at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) and director of the Ecole Doctorale de Biologie Intégrative at the University of Montpellier II. He has devoted more than twenty years to tropical agronomie research within the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) and the Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement (CIRAD). His spécial interests are the préservation of genetic resources and breeding of coffee plants.