Mozambique Establishes a Papaya (Carica Papaya ) Genetic Improvement Program

By: N’sira Áurea Tatan Sylla Mussá and Cassimiro Adelino Sardinha

The Papaya Agribusiness in Mozambique has been improving because of its social and economic benefits. Statistical data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADER, 2020) indicate that in Maputo province, Papaya production occupies an area of ​​110 ha.

 The production of Papaya has stimulated the demand for improved seeds due to the inherent advantages of its cultivation. However, Mozambique has had no for Papaya genetic improvement initiatives.  The alternative to obtaining seed was importation which results in high production costs and sometimes low productivity due to the poor adaptability of the imported varieties. Due to financial resources limitations, the farmers in the family sector usually choose to plant recycled seeds, which results in the segregation of genetic material and, consequently, low productivity and loss of Papaya quality.

The Mozambican Agricultural Research Institute (IIAM), through the Fruit Training Center (CFF), intends to develop Papaya varieties with high production and productivity, tolerant to pests and diseases. To achieve the objective, IIAM joined the Papaya Genetic Improvement Program, which recently started with collecting local germplasm, where around 80 papaya ecotypes were collected, and their physical and chemical characterization was carried out. From the work carried out, around 30 accessions from the first selection were chosen, based on the percentage of soluble solids content contained in a chemically pure sucrose solution (°Brix) and submitted to an experiment at the nursery level, with the purpose of studying the germination behavior of the material. After 60 days, 19 accessions with better performance in percentage and germination speed index, average germination time, stem diameter and plant height, number of leaves after emergence, among other parameters, were channeled to a definitive test, in the field, looking into the election of potential parents.

All the 30 selected accessions were kept in a germplasm bank to guarantee the continuity of the genetic improvement program over the next 10 years (conventional method) which will culminate in the release of at least two varieties.

The first authors are researchers at the Northeast Zonal Center (Nampula), Mozambique Agricultural Research Institute (IIAM).