"Genetically reliable papaya seeds"

The Maribel and Don Juan Papaya Maradol varieties have been in the Mexican market for about 4 years now, but researchers are currently developing a new variety with outstanding characteristics that can adapt to high densities, that is less susceptible to sudden changes in temperature, and that has a greater yield. The new Maradol papaya variety is the OLMECA papaya.

Diego Ureña is the Agricultural Production Manager of the CARIGEN company, which is devoted to the production of papaya seeds through conventional breeding methods, developing new hybrids, improving the existing varieties, and innovating in the management of the culture. 

According to Ureña, the company has achieved improving the plants through grafting. "We used root material that had more roots per square meter, better anchorage and less tendency to overturn, and grafted it with some material that had the fruit characteristics we desired to produce stronger plants that yield the fruits that the market currently demands."

CARIGEN is the first company in Latin America that offers grafted papaya plants of the 3 maradol varieties to the public, satisfying the demand for this papaya in the markets of Mexico and the United States. The company is also working on other hybrids that are in the pre-commercial phase, such as the Rica F1 papaya, Honey F1, and Sweet Orange F1, which are already being harvested in some fields and that will later be distributed in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, the Canary Islands, Spain, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Cuba, and different African countries.

To promote their innovation of papaya seeds, CARIGEN has prepared the Improvement and new technologies in the cultivation of papaya event, for all the parties in the papaya sector, be they small farmers or transnational agricultural companies that plant or market papaya. The event will be held on March 14 at the Santa Eulalia production unit of the CHULA BRAND MEXICO company, at km 11.3 of the Tinaja-Cosamaloapan highway in Veracruz, Mexico. The event is expected to be attended by participants from Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, and Cuba, among other places.

The assistants will learn about the genetic improvement of papaya crops, new hybrids and improvements of the existent varieties. "We want to promote the Maribel and Don Juan Maradol papaya varieties, present the new Maradol type papaya material we are working on and showcase the innovation of the year: Grafting in papaya, and then present the pattern used in this technique," Ureña said.

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