Papaya Research in Suriname

Papaya has 3 sexual forms: hermaphrodite, female and male. Only the first two mentioned forms bear fruits. Therefore male plants are not prefered at a plantation, because of the fact that hermaphrodite plants give enough pollen for fruitsetting. By controlled hand (self and cross) pollinations male progenies could be eliminated. In Suriname the seed seemed to be tenable only 2-3 years. After this period the germinal! potential was reduced to 50%. All plantations in Suriname are set up with hand pollinated seeds. In experimental fields with poor drainage 35% ofthe young seedlings are infected by Phytophthora species. The pathogenic Corynospora cassi1i~ola, that causes the St. Croix decline has been observed for only one year on infected plants in Suriname; many plants died. At the same time the dieback disease appeared on several experim1mtal fields after a period of extreme drought, followed by an exceptional wet season. The nematodes Rotylenchus reniformis and Meloidogyne sp. which cause serious damage at Trinidad and Hawaii (Anon. 1970) were only found in Suriname in very small and unharmful numbers. At a planting distance of 3m between the rows and 2-2.5 min the row yields of 15-80 tons per ha per year were obtained in Suriname, depending on the condition of the crop and the fruittype. Yields of 38 kg per plant per year of the selection Waimanalo, with small fruits, were obtained in Suriname. The Surinam selections, which have large but tasteless fruits, have a production of about 50 kg per plant per year. To obtain large, sweet fruits, crossings are made between the Surinam and Solo selections. The results of this first experiment were very good.