India: New papaya can resist ringspot disease
Scientists claim that the sugar content, weight and size of the fruit are far superior to the varieties cultivated currently. Now, they are working on developing a gynoecious (all-female) variety and increasing the perishable capacity of the fruit. Speaking to Mirror, Dr (MRS) Raj Verma, principal scientist at IARI, said, "We have been working on this variety for the last 10 years and finally got positive results.
The Pune Section 3 papaya can easily tolerate PRSV and its bearing capacity is better than any of the existing varieties." Senior scientist Savarni Tripathi of IARI, said, "The PRSV virus is most destructive. If it occurs at an early stage, it affects the entire system of the plant and not a single fruit will grow. Even if it occurs after three months of planting, it still has a severe effect."
Comparing the Pune Section 3 with present popular varieties such as Red Lady 786 (Taiwan), Tripathi said, "The sweetness, weight and yield of our variety is superior to Red Lady. As per our findings, Red Lady yields 30 kg of fruit per tree while our variety gives about 35 to 40 kg. Moreover, the weight of our fruit is around 2 to 3 kg, whereas Red Lady's fruit weighs 1 to 2 kg."
As per their guidelines, the fruit should only be planted in February. Farmers should plant maize or banana as a border crop and spray neem oil and Dimethoate alternately.
State agriculture commissioner Umakant Dangat welcomed the research saying, "PRSV has been spotted in every variety of the fruit and has destroyed production. If this new variety shows the ability to tolerate this disease, it will be good news for the country. They should speed up their research and make their seeds available in the market."
Source: punemirror.in
