For 14 years, Costa Rican consumers have shown their preference for the perfect papaya: an aromatic fruit with an intense color, sweet taste and a suitable size, and which has become the number one in the market.
The Pococí papaya is a hybrid variety developed by the Fabio Braudrit Moreno Agricultural Experimental Station (EEAFBM) of the UCR and the National Institute for Innovation and Transfer in Agricultural Technology (INTA).
Creating this fruit required a long research process in which different varieties were tested until a hybrid was found that had the most suitable flavor, color, aroma and agronomic characteristics.
"The objective was to create papaya varieties with a good taste quality for the consumer and, at the same time, a good productivity," said researcher Erick Mora (EEAFBM), who along with Antonio Bogantes (INTA), dedicated himself to improving this variety.
Each year, about 250 producers grow more 1,000 hectares of Pococí papayas in the country. They prefer to plant this variety because of its high yield and the fact that it is preferred by consumers.
Innovation with economic impact
The Pococí papaya has positioned itself as the main variety in Costa Rica, accounting for more than 90% of the production. Moreover, it is the first Costa Rican papaya that has been exported, generating 29 million dollars in profits for the country with the exports made between 2005 and 2016.
For the producing sector, the Pococí came to revolutionize traditional papaya cultivation, which had been losing ground in the early 2000's. Producers from the Atlantic zone are the main producers of this variety which has also spread to other areas of the country, such as the Pacific, where it has yielded excellent results.
"Very low prices were paid, and that made it impossible to continue cultivating papayas, but the Pococí that came to give a big boost to the papaya market in Costa Rica, but also worldwide, because it is also appreciated in other destinations, like Europe," says Gustavo Barrientos Gómez, producer and president of Coopeparrita.
The papaya of the future
Although the Pococí papaya is the one preferred by Costa Rican consumers and has demonstrated its export potential, the EEAFBM continues with the process of papaya improvement. The objective is to provide even better and better materials for the benefit of the producers.
"We want to continue improving the papaya, extending the post-harvest shelf life of the varieties. For the producer, it is very important that the fruit has greater resistance to rotting, especially for the fruit's export," says Mora.
Full article at ucr.ac.cr
