What was it all about?

This project was focused on developing an understanding of the cultivar requirements for commercial papaya growers. The findings were to improve the industry’s plant breeding and selection program, benefiting productivity and profitability for growers.

Funding from the project, which ran from 2014 to 2017, allowed the employment of an industry development officer and a one-year project for a papaya researcher. The officer liaised with growers, researchers and stakeholders and organised regional field days to promote peer-to-peer interaction and the exchange of industry knowledge and issues.

The researcher funded by this project was focused on improving papaya breeding techniques. The research resulted in successful tissue cultures being developed for commercial scale production.

Importantly the work saw the development of DNA markers that allows the sex of a seedling to be determined. Knowing the sex of papaya trees is pivotal because each sex produces different shaped fruit, with Australian consumers preferring female fruits for yellow papaw, and hermaphrodite fruits for red papaya.