How to Grow Papaya - TvAgro By Juan Gonzalo Angel

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• published: 24 Sep 2015
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Twitter @juangangel The papaya (/pəˈpaɪə/ or US /pəˈpɑːjə/) (from Carib via Spanish), papaw, (/pəˈpɔː/[2]) or pawpaw (/ˈpɔːˌpɔː/[2] is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, and is one of the 22 accepted species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae.[3] It is native to the tropics of the Americas, perhaps from southern Mexico and neighbouring Central America.[4] It was first cultivated in Mexico[citation needed] several centuries before the emergence of the Mesoamerican classical civilizations. The papaya is a large, tree-like plant, with a single stem growing from 5 to 10 m (16 to 33 ft) tall, with spirally arranged leaves confined to the top of the trunk. The lower trunk is conspicuously scarred where leaves and fruit were borne. The leaves are large, 50–70 cm (20–28 in) in diameter, deeply palmately lobed, with seven lobes. Unusually for such large plants, the trees are dioecious. The tree is usually unbranched, unless lopped. The flowers are similar in shape to the flowers of the Plumeria, but are much smaller and wax-like. They appear on the axils of the leaves, maturing into large fruit - 15–45 cm (5.9–17.7 in) long and 10–30 cm (3.9–11.8 in) in diameter. The fruit is a type of berry.[5] It is ripe when it feels soft (as soft as a ripe avocado or a bit softer) and its skin has attained an amber to orange hue. Carica papaya was the first transgenic fruit tree to have its genome deciphered apaya plants grow in three sexes: male, female, and hermaphrodite. The male produces only pollen, never fruit. The female will produce small, inedible fruits unless pollinated. The hermaphrodite can self-pollinate since its flowers contain both male stamens and female ovaries. Almost all commercial papaya orchards contain only hermaphrodites.[7] Originally from southern Mexico (particularly Chiapas and Veracruz), Central America, and northern South America,[4] the papaya is now cultivated in most tropical countries. In cultivation, it grows rapidly, fruiting within three years. It is, however, highly frost-sensitive, limiting its production to tropical climates. Temperatures below −2 °C (29 °F) are greatly harmful if not fatal. In Florida and California, growth is generally limited to southern parts of the states. In California, it's generally limited to private gardens in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties. It also prefers sandy, well-drained soil, as standing water will kill the plant within 24 hours.[8] For cultivation, however, only female plants are used, since they give off a single flower each time, and close to the base of the plant, while the male gives off multiple flowers in long stems, which result in poorer quality fruit.[4] Top producers of papayas, 2013 Country/State Production in millions of tons India 5.5 Brazil 1.6 Indonesia 0.9 Nigeria 0.8 Mexico 0.8 World 12.4 Source: United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, FAOSTAT [9] India and Brazil are the major producers of papaya, together providing 57% of the world total of 12.4 million tons in 2013 (FAOSTAT chart). Gaining in popularity among tropical fruits worldwide, papaya is now ranked fourth in total tropical fruit production after bananas, oranges, and mango. Global papaya production has grown significantly over the last few years, mainly as a result of increased production in India.[10] Papaya has become an important agricultural export for developing countries, where export revenues of the fruit provide a livelihood for thousands of people, especially in Asia and Latin America. More info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papaya Juan Gonzalo Angel www.tvagro.tv