Papaya
Botanical Name - Carica Papaya L.
Family - Caricaceae

• It is a tropical fruit which is native to Mexico. It belongs to “Caricaceae” family and “Carica” genus.
• It is a fast growth plant which has long fruiting period and contains high nutritional value.
• India is known as the largest producer of papaya.
• It can be grown in pots, greenhouse, polyhouse and containers.
• It also has health benefits such as it helps to relieve constipation, cancer, helps in lowering cholesterol, and helps in fighting with cancer cells.
• It is a rich source of Vitamin A and C.
• In India, Maharashtra, Karnataka, west Bengal, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, U.K, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are major states doing papaya farming.

Soil –

• Sandy loam soil, well fertile & well drained is best Adequate drainage & aeration are two important factors for successful cultivation.
• 45 cm deep soil is adequate. Can not stand water logging.
• If drainage is not adequate, collar – rot disease may occur

Climate- 

• It is a tropical fruit and grows well. Summer temperature ranges from 35o C – 38o C.
• Tolerates frost and comes up to an elevation of 1200 m
•  Night temperature below 12°-14°C for  several hours during winter season  affects its growth and production  severely.
• It is very much sensitive to frost, strong winds and water  stagnation .Can not tolerate very hot or frost.
• Dry, warm climate increase  sweetness. 

Seeds are sown in second week of July to third week of September and transplanting is done from first week of September to mid-October.

Seed rate:
Use 150-200gm seeds for per acre land.

Seed treatment:
Before seed sowing, treat the seeds with Captan@3gm to protect the plant from soil borne diseases.
 

• The seedlings are prepared in the polythene bags having dimensions of 25 X 10 cm. In these polythene’s, 8-10 holes are done having 1 mm diameter on lower part for proper drainage of water.
• Polythene bags are filled with equal proportions of FYM, soil and sand.
• Mainly seeds are sown in polythene bags in 2nd week of July to 3rd week for September.
• Before sowing treat the seeds with Captan@3gm per kg seeds.
• Drenching is done with Captan@0.2% when seedlings emerge out to protect them from damping off disease.
• Transplanting of seedlings is done in September-October month.

• For papaya farming, well prepared land is required.
• To bring the soil to fine tilth leveling is required.
• At the time of last ploughing, apply FYM (Farm Yard Manure).

Spacing:
Use plant to plant spacing of 1.5 X 1.5m.
Sowing depth:
1 cm deep seeds are sown.

Method of sowing:
Propagation method is used. 

• Irrigate copiously after planting.
• Irrigate the field once in a week.
•  Sensitive to water logging.
• Double  basin system is best to prevent collar-rot.
• Winter 10-12 & summer 6-8 days  interval.

• Apply FYM 10 kg / plant as basal. Apply 50 g in each of N, P and K per plant at bimonthly intervals from the third month of planting after removing unwanted sex forms.
• Apply Arbuscular mycorrhizae (50 g/plant), phosphate solubilising bacteria (25 g/plant), Azospirillum (50 g/plant) and Trichoderma harzianum (50 g/plant) at the time of planting.
• Apply 20 g in each of Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria again six months after planting.

Spray 0.5% Zinc sulphate and 0.1% Boric acid at 4th and 8th MAP to improve growth
and yield.

1.White fly: Bemisia tabaci 

• Management
• Field sanitation
• Removal of host plants
• Installation of yellow sticky traps
• Spray application of imidacloprid 200 SL at 0.01% or triazophos 40 EC at 0.06% during heavy infestation.
• Spray neem oil 3 % or NSKE 5%
• Release of predators viz., Coccinellid predator, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri
• Release of parasitoids viz., Encarsia haitierrsis and E.guadeloupae

2.Fruit fly: Bactrocera (Dacus) dorsalis

Management

• Collect fallen infested fruits and dispose them by dumping in a pit and covering with soil.
• Provide summer ploughing to expose the pupa
• Monitor the activity of flies with methyl eugenol sex lure traps.
• Heavy application of dust and sprays of pyrethrum or BHC
• Spray fenthion 100 EC 2 ml/ lit or malathion 50 EC 2ml/lit.
• Field release of natural enemies Opius compensates and Spalangia philippines

Note

• Prepare bait with methyl eugenol 1% solution mixed with malathion 0.1%.
• Take 10 ml of this mixture per trap and keep them in 25 different places in one hectare between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.
• 250 ml capacity wide mouthed bottle fitted with hanging device at its neck.
• Change the solution at fortnightly interval from March to July.

3.Ash weevils: Myllocerus spp

Management

• Collect and destroy the adults
• Spray carbaryl 50 WP at 2g/lit

4.Green peach aphid: Myzus persicae

Management

• Remove and destroy damaged plant parts
• Spray dimethoate 0.03% or methyl demeton 0.025%
• Field release of parasitoid Aphelinus mali and predators ,Coccinella septumpunctata

Management

• Raise papaya seedlings under insect-proof conditions.
• Plant disease free seedlings.
• Raise sorghum / maize as barrier crop before planting papaya.
• Rogue out affected plants immediately on noticing symptoms.
• Donot raise cucurbits around the field.

24 – 30 months.

• Harvesting is mainly done when fruit attains the full size and is light green in color with a tinge of yellow at apical end.
• First picking can be done after 14-15 months of planting. 4-5 harvestings can be done per season.

The average yield is as follows
CO 2 : 200 – 250 t / ha
CO 3 : 100 – 120 t / ha
CO 5 : 200 – 250 t / ha
CO 6 : 120 – 160 t / ha
CO 7: 200 – 225 t / ha
CO 8: 220 – 230 t / ha

• Papain has several industrial uses, the important one being in brewing industries.
• It is used as ―meat tenderiser ‖ and in textile and leather ―sanforization ‖ processes and drugs.
• The method of extraction of papain from papaya fruits is simple.
• The latex should be tapped from immature papaya fruits.
• Select 75 to 90 days old fruits. On the selected fruit, give incisions (cut) with a razor blade or stainless steel knife.
• The cuts should be given from stalk to tip of the fruit.
• The depth of the cut should not be more than 0.3 cm. Four such cuts are given spaced equally on the fruit surface.
• Tap the latex early in the morning and complete the tapping before 10.00 A.M.
• Repeat the tapping four times on the same fruit at an interval of three days.
• The cut should be given on the fruit surface in places not covered by previous cuts.
• The latex collected from all the plants in a day should be pooled, shade dried in an aluminium pan or tray and passed through a 50 mesh sieve to remove all foreign matter.
• In large plantations, vacuum driers can be adopted with advantage. Papain produced by artificial heating will have better colour and high quality. Add Potassium meta-bi-sulphite (KMS) at 0.5 % for better colour and keeping quality.
• The latex should be dried very rapidly at temperatures of 50 to 55oC.
• Stop drying when the dried product comes off as flakes having a porous texture.
• Powder the dried papain by means of wooden mallets or in electrically operated granulators and sieve the powder through 10 mesh sieve.
• Pack the powder in polythene bags in convenient quantities and seal them. Put the sealed bags in a tin container and seal it after evacuating air.
• Exposure to air deteriorates the quality of papain and vacuum sealing is therefore necessary.
• For large scale manufacture of papain, vacuum sealing machine and a granulator will be useful.
• The green papaya fruits after extraction of papain can be used for pectin manufacture and ―tuity fruity ‖ or they can be allowed to ripen and made into other products.
• The CO 2, CO 5 and CO 8 varieties of papaya released by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore are ideal for papain production. 

The yield of crude papain is as follows: CO 2: 600 kg / ha, CO 5 & CO 8: 800 kg / haAccordion Content

Germination improvement

• Store the seeds in airtight containers.
• Soak the seeds in 100 ppm GA3 for 16 hours or in 2% fresh leaf extract of arappu or 1% pungam leaf extract or pellet the seeds with arappu leaf powder.

Optimum depth of sowing
Sow seeds at 1 cm depth for better germination and seedling growth.

Grading
BSS 6 wire mesh sieve.
Storage
Dry seeds to 8-10% moisture and treat with halogen mixture containing CaOCl2, CaCO3 and arappu leaf powder (at 5:4:1 ratio) @ 3 g / kg and pack in cloth bag to maintain viability upto 5 months.

Invigoration of old seeds
Stored seeds can be invigorated by soaking them in dilute solution of disodium
phosphate (10-4 M) adopting 1:8 seed to solution ratio for 4 hours, followed by drying back to original moisture content