Papaya; popular fruit and vegetable crop in Tripura

       Papaya, the locally known Kokiya, Kuwaifal, Pappa/Pepe is most predominant fruit as well as vegetable crop in every household of Tripura.
    Everybody, young or old either knows about papaya and its healthy properties useful for stomach ailment and, for vitamins supplement.

   In the market, you would get to see more number of green papayas than that of ripened papaya. Green papaya is prominently meant for vegetable purpose and papaya’s use is most prominent for vegetable purpose than that of fruit purpose.
  This is specifically true at the present condition in Tripura.

   Ripened papaya are sold in fruit shop that too in few number that is to say that number is astonishingly low compare to other popular fruits like Apple, Mango and other seasonal fruits.

   This may be due to the taste and preference by the consumer and people at large. But, there is strange thing that is observed in the rural area of the state. The point is where do all these papaya fruits comes from? Is it from solo papaya orchard or from homestead land?

  It is strangely seen that almost all papayas are produced from homestead orchard. There’s hardly any noticeable mono or solo papaya plantation in the state. This is really a strange as per as farmers as well as state’s perspective is concerned.

  The rate of papaya per kilogram is really competitive and profitable too. In the prevailing market demands as well as rate of papaya, it should have attracted farmers to take up papaya cultivation in their farm land but alas! It is not the case in the state. Nobody is taking up papaya at large scale.

  Papaya being vegetable as well as fruit crop has very right position in the heart of the people but what it lacks are mass popularization for large scale plantation. This may be achieved through awareness and good extension mechanism

   If ever taken up in the plain land (high) it would have definitely fetched good market demands as well as market price. In the time, where farmers are struggling for profit, this papaya would definitely come to their rescue in terms of farm profit and farmers would have greatly benefited.

   One of the important thing to note here is; papaya will not require anything exorbitantly in terms of input requirement, what it requires are the same thing like other crops that farmers are usually taking or using in their field for growing crops.

  There are many local as well as improved varieties of papaya available in the state; some of the improved varieties like Coorg honey Dew and California Wonder which are doing very well as far as production in the unit area is concerned could nicely fit the present need of the farmers.

   Moreover, planting of papaya seedling is also quite easy and their survival rate while transplanting in the main field is also quite satisfactory.

   Finally; what we need at this hour is; move on and move forward with the papaya. You have land, market and, what further requires is little extra risk to start with crop papaya.

         Agritangkol dated 10.07.2012