Good Business In Papaya Seed

NEW PAPAYA HYBRIDS — Dr. Mary Ann P. Sayoc, general manager of East-West Seed Philippines, poses with fruits of newly developed papaya hybrids showcased at the recent International Field Day at the Simon N. Groot Research Center in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Producing hybrid papaya seeds could be a big business for seed companies if their plant breeders could develop varieties with the color and taste preferred by the target markets, are productive and tolerant to pests, diseases and other stresses.

Papaya is a favorite fruit the world over and is grown in tropical and subtropical climates. The supply of fruits is year-round and so farmers who grow them can have year-round cash flow.

And that is the reason why plant breeders of companies like East-West Seed International are spending a lot of money in research to come up with new varieties that fit the requirements of different markets. Oh yes, different markets have differing preferences.

At the recent International Field Day in Chiang Mai, the company showcased several newly developed varieties intended for different countries. Most of the newly developed varieties are red-fleshed because that is the preferred color in most of the markets like Thailand, Brazil, India and some other countries.

Only the Philippines, it seems, does not have any preference as to color of the papaya flesh. Whether it is yellow or red, it is okay as long as the taste is acceptable to the consumers. And speaking of a new variety that will be field tested in the Philippines, there is a new yellow-fleshed hybrid with a novel taste that combines the flavor of papaya and mango. The hybrid does not have a name yet but some people just call it “Papamango” for easy recall.

Two new red-fleshed hybrids are now released for the Brazil market. One is called Chara which produces medium to large size fruits with very good shape and uniformity. It has excellent fruit quality – thick and firm flesh, small cavity, attractive red-orange color and very sweet.

The other variety for Brazil is called Vega with good fruit setting ability and medium size fruits. The fruits have very good shape and uniformity, thick and firm flesh, small cavity, attractive red-orange color and very sweet.

Gymbia is another red-fleshed variety from East-West which produces large fruits with thick firm flesh, deep red, sweet and aromatic. Then there is what they call the multipurpose red-fleshed variety principally for the Thai market. This is the Mikaili which is semi-dwarf with excellent fruit-setting ability. It can be used for fresh consumption, papain extraction, Thai Somtam papaya salad and for cooking.

There is really big money in papaya seeds if the companies can produce the right varieties. We were talking to Priyanka Nanayakkara of Sri Lanka who manages Best Seeds in Colombo. He said that he is also selling papaya seeds, including our own Sinta. Last year, he said that he sold 20 kilos of Sinta seeds.

At first glance, that is a very small amount. But then we did our calculations. East-West’s own catalog says there are 58,000 to 62,000 papaya seeds per kilo. And we learned that the retail price per seed that farmers pay in Sri Lanka is the equivalent of P4 to P5. Granting P4 for the 58,000 seeds, that translates to more than P232,000 per kilo; P23.2 million for 100 kilos; and P232 million per ton.

That’s a lot of money if you ask us.