PAPAYA
| FAMILY |
GENUS |
SPECIES |
| Caricaceae |
|
Papaya |
The papaya is a herbaceous plant with a soft stem which may grow as tall as 8 meters.
It normally flowers in 9-12 months producing either male, female, hermaphrodite flowers.
The male plants do not produce fruits but at rare times develop fruit. The papaya is a
cross pollinated plant and the economic life of the plant is usually 3 years. The tree
may produce as much as 100 fruits and each fruit may weigh up to 2-3 kilograms. The papaya
is widely grown in the tropics and sub tropics.
Requires a well drained soil with high organic matter. Does not tolerate flooding even for
short duration. Recommended in regions with well distributed rainfall throughout the year
without flash floods, water-logging and strong winds.
Papaya is propagated by seeds sown in sand beds .The soil mixture used is 50% sand for good
drainage, 25% organic manure and 25% top soil. The seedlings are ready for transplanting
after about 2 to 3 months old. After transplanting the trees will flower about 6 months later
and the fruits will mature in about 4 months. Normally a yield of 100 fruits per tree can be
expected. The fruits can be harvested for about 1 1/2 to 2 years after which they can be topped
to produce secondary branches for more fruits.
Harvested fruits are packed for export in a single layer in corrugated fibreboard cartons lined
with low density polyethylene film, storage period of mature fruits is 3 weeks at 10o C.
TORNA A HOMEPAGE