Rice
Mongo
Peanut
Eggplant
Mango
Tomato
Coffee
Banana
(Saba)
Calamansi
(Philippine Lemon)
Papaya
Pineapple
Tobacco
Rice |
Mongo |
Peanut |
Eggplant |
Mango |
Tomato |
Coffee |
Banana (Saba) |
Calamansi (Philippine Lemon) |
Papaya |
Pineapple |
Tobacco |
Technical
Description
Papaya (Carica papaya) is one of the most common tropical fruits in the
Philippines. The fruits are
cylindrically long, pear shaped or round. When
ripe, it is orange-red, sweet and juicy. The fruits are high in Vitamin C, iron, calcium, phosphorus,
thiamine, riboflavin, carotene, and niacin content.
Papaya can be eaten fresh, cooked, preserve
or dried, whether green, half-ripe, or fully ripe.
Domestic
Production
Data
from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) show that Western Visayas
ranked second to Southern Mindanao with regards to volume produced. In 2002, production was 7.17MT, a decrease of 2.4% from 7.35
MT of the previous year. The total
number of bearing trees was 632. Total
area planted with papaya was 780 hectares.
Farm
Practices
Papaya is almost present in every house in the rural area. Even in urban areas, they are grown in front or backyards.
Papaya can also be grown as intercrop with
coconut, coffee, pineapple or assorted vegetables.
Intercropping with papaya increases total farm income and reduces weeding
expenses. It is common knowledge
that fertilizer help improve volume produced per tree.
Three major varieties are being grown in Western Visayas; Hawaian, Solo, and
Native varieties.
The
fruits are harvested in several ways. When
trees are short, hands can reach the fruits.
Harvesting starts on 7th - 8th month after
planting. Farmers pick all fruits
showing a tinge of yellow at apical end then place fruit in bags, containers or
pails. When papaya trees grow
older, harvesting is done with the use of ladder.
This is a tedious, time-consuming and costly method of harvesting.
Though papaya plant will keep on fruiting for many years, production
declines rapidly. Productive life
of span of papaya plant ends after 3 ½ years.
Yield of well-managed papaya plantation is roughly 35 to 40 tons of
fruits per hectare.
Seasonality
Papaya fruits are available throughout the year.
The
fruit is rich in vitamins, which is the reason why papaya is present in every
Filipino household.
Ripe
fruits are eaten fresh, used to make fruit salads, or processed into jam, jelly,
marmalade, puree, paste, ice cream, fruit in syrup, concentrate and candies.
Unripe fruits are cooked as vegetable, pickled, or as source of papain.
Papain
can be extracted from green papaya. It
is an enzyme that breaks protein in the preparation of food and beverages,
animal feeds, drugs and pharmaceutical medicine, and other industrial products.
It is also industrially used in leather softening, wool softening, and silk
degumming.
Demand
/ Supply
Records show that per capita consumption of papaya is 1.55 kg. (1196).
Local demand is expected to be greater due to modern lifestyle.
Fruits like papaya are almost always included in the daily meal.
There is also an increase in demand for fresh and processed fruits in US,
Europe, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Korea, and China due to lifting of the ban
as a result of the development of an effective vapor heat treatment protocol as
a quarantine measure.
Dehydrated or frozen form for the beverage and catering industries and institutional markets abroad particularly Europe.
Fresh papaya as an important ingredient in canned mixed fruits;
Papain for US, Europe, Australia, and Japan
Market
Practices
Marketing agents include the wholesaler, “viajero”, assembler, retailer, and
wholesaler-retailer.
Farm level classification was done by assorting the fruit by size, degree of
maturity, appearance, and shape.
Price
Trends
Prices vary according to fruit size, variety, and season.
Solo papaya sells at P25-P30/kilo in fruit stands.
Expansion in papaya production of solo variety for local and export market.
Western
Visayas 2002 Papaya
Production
|
Provinces |
Production*
(MT) |
| Aklan Antique Capiz Guimaras Iloilo Negros Occ. |
2,265.50 |
| Total |
7,169.92 |
PCARRD DOST, Los Baños, Laguna
DA-AMAS Central Office. Quezon City