Papaya is very popular and important in Bangladesh. There are several properties of papaya - firstly it is short term, secondly it is widely used not only as a fruit but also as a vegetable, thirdly papaya is very tasty, nutritious and has medicinal properties. At present, papaya is cultivated in 3,000 hectares of land in the country and the total production is about 46,000 tons. Raw papaya contains a digestive substance called papain.
Characteristics of Red Lady Hybrid Papaya variety: -
It is a papaya of the high yielding dwarf species of Taiwan
Each tree of the Red Lady variety bears papaya.
The Red Lady variety of papaya grows to a maximum of 10 'feet.
When the height of the tree is 60-70 cm, the fruits begin to bear.
Each tree bears 50-120 fruits.
Flowering occurs in 5-6 months and first fruits are available in 8-9 months.
This variety of papaya is quite large.
The color of the fruit is red-green.
One fruit weighs 1.5 to 2 kg.
The flesh is quite thick, dark red, quite sweet and fragrant in taste.
Can be marketed both raw and cooked.
As it does not spoil easily when ripe, it can be marketed far and wide.
This variety of papaya is resistant to ring spot virus disease.
The life span of this species is more than 2 years.
Seed Collection- Many companies are cheating by producing low quality seed packets and selling them as Red Lady. So when buying seeds, you have to check
and select well. Red Lady seeds are available in China and Taiwan, but seed results in Taiwan are much better. So it is better to buy seeds from Taiwan.
Seed rate: - The number of seeds per village is 60-70. 80-100 grams of seed is required per hectare. As such, papaya seedlings can be planted in 1 hectare of land with 3000-3200 seedlings.
Seedling making: - Seed can be propagated. After cutting the packets of seeds and drying them in the sun for 2 hours, after drying them in the sun for 2
hours, keep them in a cool place and after soaking them in water for 10 to 12 hours, make seedlings in polythene bags. If the seedlings are made in polythene bags, the seedlings grow fast after planting. Fill an equal amount of sandy loam soil and
decomposed dung mixture in the bag in the size of 5x7 cm. Make 2-3 holes in the bottom of the bag. Then one seed should be sown if it is a newly collected seed and 2 seeds if it is an old seed. No more than one sapling should be kept in 1 bag.
Planting of seedlings- 1.5 to 2 months old seedlings are planted. Make a hole in the size of 60X60X60 cm at a distance of 2
meters and mix the soil manure in the hole 15 days before planting. In order to drain the water, a 50 cm drain should be placed between the two rows.
Fertilizer application: -
Time of planting: - After planting the seedlings, new leaves should be applied at the rate of 50 gm of urea and MP fertilizer every 1 month. The flowers on
the tree will actually double this level. Fertilizer should be applied before collecting the last fruit.
Interim care: - The garden should be kept clean and tidy at all times. Weeds should be removed from the base of the tree. The soil at the base of the tree should be lightened with a spade. If you
pick extra fruits on the tree and lighten some of the fruits, the rest of the fruits will get a chance to grow. There are several benefits to applying different hormones to papaya plants.
Fruit
The papaya tree usually flowers in the middle of 5-6 months and the first fruits are obtained in 6-9 months. Some fruits
will turn yellow when nourished. If you prick it with something nutritious, liquid gum like water will come out. Malnourished fruit will produce a thick
paste like milk.Popular picture of papaya tree in the backyard of rural Bengal. But papaya cultivation is not special for commercial purposes in a scientific way. However, the demand for this highly beneficial vegetable remains throughout the year, making the fruit more beneficial, more delicious.
Soil and land: Elevated place, there is good drainage arrangement, papaya should be cultivated there. This is because the papaya tree cannot withstand even a few hours of standing water. Sandy loam or loamy soils are good. Papaya cultivation is not good in high acid and high alkaline soils.
Seedling preparation: Seedlings are made from seeds. It is necessary to collect seeds by planting ripe fruits from disease
free developed trees. Then the seeds should be washed in water with dry ash and dried. Seed purification is urgent. Seedbed should be made by mixing rotten dung manure and leaf rotted manure. Seedbed will be 15-20 cm high. Lightly
bury the seeds at a depth of 2-3 cm at a distance of 5 cm and lightly sprinkle leafy manure or soil on top. Squeeze water as required. If the seedlings are as big as 10 cm in the seedbed, they should be transferred to the main land. It is better to sow the seeds between May and June. That is at the beginning of the rainy season. However, papaya seedlings can be planted in October if irrigation is available.
Planting of seedlings: Dig a hole 45 cm in length, width and height and fertilize it. For this 10 kg dung manure, 1 kg neem shell, 10 g carbofuran 3 g, 250 g single super phosphate should be mixed well and covered for 15-20 days. Then the soil should be mixed in the hole. Carefully remove the seedlings including soil from the seedbed. Do not damage the roots. Plant three seedlings in each hole. When the tree flowers in 5-6 months, the female or bisexual tree should be left in each hole and the rest should be removed. However, without one male tree for every 10 plants, pollination will not be good again. This will also reduce the yiel
Fertilizer application: As soon as the signs of fruiting appear, a mixture of organic and chemical fertilizers should be applied around the plant. Urea 150 gm, phosphate 250 gm, potash 75 gm should
be mixed with 20 kg dung manure and applied around the plant. If micro-food is needed, it should be sprayed on the leaves.
Care: Regular watering of the plant. Again, we have to keep an eye on the water so that it does not stand still. Weeds should not be. The soil at the beginning should be lightly dug and
crumbled. In order to grow female flowers, at the age of 4-5 months, papaya tree should be sprayed with Ethereal 1 ml per 4 liters of water When NAA is sprayed with 40 mg per liter of water, the female flower grows.