Farmer's experiment with Taiwan red lady papaya bears fruit

Mangaluru: Naveen Chathubai, a farmer from Aivarnadu village in Sullia taluk, Dakshina Kannada district, conducted numerous successful experiments to make farming a sustainable and profitable occupation. One of his notable achievements is the successful intercropping of Taiwan red lady papaya within his arecanut farm.

Chathubai, who won the Best Farmer Award from Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Shivamogga, said that cultivating this particular papaya breed requires minimal maintenance costs and yields fruit within just three months of planting. He told TOI that the cultivation of Taiwan red lady papaya is affected only during excessive rainfall.

"The plants may decay if the farm is waterlogged due to heavy rains. Hence, it can be planted in a place where there is no waterlogging. Compared to other intercrops, cultivating this variety of papaya is more profitable as it fetches an average of Rs 20 to 25 per kg in the market. There is a good demand for the fruit as it is used for fruit salad, ice creams and other food products. Further, the fruit is very tasty and also has a shelf-life of more than 15 days," he said.

Regarding the availability of the saplings, Chathubai said that he procured them from the horticulture department in Sullia and the Agricultural & Horticultural Research Station in Ullal. "Initially, I planted 100 saplings and later 200. For the past two years, I have been cultivating it and earned an additional income of more than Rs 50,000 last year. Since the papaya saplings are planted between arecanut plants, there is no need for additional care. It also gets water when we irrigate arecanut plants," Chathubai said, adding that he plans to extend papaya farming by planting more saplings in the days to come.