Evaluation of F₁ papaya cultivars in Thailand and their marketing potential

Taiwan has developed more than 20 excellent papaya F₁ cultivars to date. Grown in the humid tropics, papaya also plays an important part in the agricultural market of Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines. Thus, so as to reach the target market in Thailand, we planted fruit trees on a trial basis locally. The average germination rate of Taiwanese papaya F₁ seeds was 65.4%, which was higher than the average of 47.4% of the Thailand papaya seeds. The growth potential of Taiwanese F₁ papaya cultivars is better than that of local cultivars, which can reduce the amount of seeds required, the labor cost, and the land cost. However, papaya is a perennial fruit tree that could be harvested in 9-10 months later or in 10-18 months at the latest. Besides, the fruitRSQUOs quality and its stable performance require at least 2-3 years to determine. That is, conducting test cultivation and investigation ensure the access to the export market for papaya F₁ seeds.