Many small and marginal horticultural farmers’ in Thoothukudi district are showing keen interest to switch over to papaya from corn crop due to advantages of papayas, said Karisalbhoomi Vivasayigal Sangam president A Varadharajan here on Sunday.
Till about four years ago, corn was popular among the farmers’ as it gave them high yield. However, the fall armyworm attack on the crops tested the patience of many farmers. Despite treating and plucking the mushroom growth of weeds around the plant, the crop could not be saved. As a result, completing the harvest became a challenge.
Additionally, there was little support from the government as there was no minimum support price for the corn. Though horticulture department officials inspected and provided methods to save the crop, the corn yield was not encouraging. When many farmers’ were keeping their fingers crossed, papaya cultivation came in handy.
As the government campaigned about the features, farmers’ switched to papaya. The district, which raised blackgram, green gram, pearl millet, sunflower, onion and other crops in about five lakh hectares, 30% of it included corn farming. Today, a majority of the corn-growing farmers’ have switched to papaya in the district.
According to a farmer in Mettilpatti, he had planted 1,000 papaya saplings in an acre. From the 10th month onwards, he was able to cut the fruits — be it unripe or mature, and tap the milk from them. After extracting the milk, he said the fruits would be sold separately.
On an average, for each acre, the farmer extracted 50 kg of papaya milk, which according to him fetched reasonable returns. Due care has to be taken in extracting the milk and that it should be preserved in cold storage facility within about 12 hours, he added.
A horticulture department official said that with not much water is required for irrigation. In a dry spell, papaya crop can be raised with little amount of water and that the certified seedlings would give high yield and quality milk. The fruit can be sold separately to units manufacturing jams and other by-products, he added.
