Researcher Professor Nasrin Akhter Ivy of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agriculture University (BSMRAU) in Gazipur has developed two varieties of sweet Papaya recently. One of the Papayas is red in colour and the other is yellow.
Professor Nasrin Akhter Ivy informed she conducted research for last five-year to develop such a local variety of Papaya which will be high yielding with an increased nutritional value. The new varieties are bisexual and each plant will produce 50 to 60 fruits each weighing 1.5 to 3.5 kilograms.
A female variety of such Papaya is pear shaped having a straight line along its surface. The production per hectare is about 60 to 70 tonnes. These varieties of Papaya contain a huge Papain enzyme and it is sweeter than other conventional varieties.
The colour of the flesh of a ripened Papaya is yellow to deep orange while other one is of red in colour. The ripened Papaya contains a huge amount of Vitamin A and C while the green or raw papaya can be eaten as vegetable. This is beneficial for diabetic patients.
The seed of these varieties of Papaya can be sowed in January and the emerged saplings can be transplanted in March. The plant bears fruits within 60 to 70 day of transplanting of the saplings. These types of Papaya have a huge disease resistant capacity.
Professor Ivy further mentioned papaya farmers of our country usually transplant three to four papaya saplings in a single bed and while those are in flowering stage, only the female plant is left to grow and the male is removed but the Papaya variety developed by her is bisexual in character that is why only one sapling is required to transplant on a bed.
She added, such research has also been conducted in China, Australia and Taiwan and farmers of those countries are already reaping the benefit of such research.
Professor Dr Gias Uddin Mia, Vice-Chancellor of BSMRAU informed Papaya is one of our favorite fruits. It contributes greatly to ensure our nutrition. He further said the researchers are working to develop improved varieties of Papaya so that every sapling when grown up bears fruit. Already two varieties name BU papaya-1 and BU Papaya-2 have been released. Already BU Papaya-1 got a huge popularity from among farmers. He hoped the papayas will contribute greatly for the development of agro-economy of the country.
Vice Chancellor Dr Gias also informed that in addition to their giving classes and teaching the students, teachers of the university have also developed 60 varieties of improved crops.
