agriculture

Papaya project bears fruit

Hawaiian and Taiwanese varieties are being planted in the hopes of improving Panama’s papaya crop.

Agricultural scientists from Taiwan will oversee cultivation of the imported seeds.

la prensa

quality seeds: Agricultural authorities are importing high-performance papaya seeds from Hawaii and Taiwan in a bid to boost the quality and production of the country’s export crop.1144637

Though popular with native palates, Panamanian papaya exports are small and have grown increasingly precarious since 2000. That may change, however, with the Ministry of Agricultural Development’s plan to cultivate high-quality seeds from Taiwan and Hawaii under the supervision of experienced food scientists.

Agricultural officials hope the project will contribute to higher yields and stronger crops, helping the country’s exports to compete within the world markets, said Maximino Díaz, director of the Ministry of Agriculture National Agricultural Development. He explained that Panama’s papaya production has suffered from farmers’ ignorance of techniques for growing the relatively delicate fruit.

At $4,500 per kilogram of high-grade seeds, or enough to plant between 8 and 10 hectares, the project requires a significant investment. So far, a trial production of the foreign varieties involving a 40-hectare area is underway, with another 100 hectares scheduled to be planted in Chiriquí, Veraguas and the Azuero Peninsula over the next two months.

To ensure that the crops receive adequate care, agriculture authorities contracted experts from the Taiwan Agricultural Biotechnology Group to develop training programs for papaya growers in the months to come. The scientists’ expertise could be especially helpful in combating the Mediterranean fruit fly, an insect that has been menacing the country’s papaya crop from its incipience. Eliminating the fly’s presence in Panama may, in fact, a crucial step towards re-entering foreign markets, as most developed countries have placed restrictions on imports from regions where the pest is still active. Recently, authorities declared the Azuero Peninsula free of the fruit fly.

Fruit exporters such as Hormoz Safi, president of Pana Fruit, have welcomed the government’s efforts to boost the country’s understanding of papaya cultivation.

“In Panama, there are almost no papaya exports because it’s such a delicate product,” said Safi, whose company pioneered exports of the fruit to American markets but has since lost over $300,000 over the last few months as a result of poor sales.

Born of a recommendation by a former U.S. ambassador to Panama, Pana Fruit’s papaya exports once robust production of 80 hectares has dwindled to 40 hectares and has struggled to maintain quality.

The recommendation proved propitious, nonetheless, as in 2007, a peak moment in papaya exports, the United States imported some 45 percent of global production, according to figures from the Institute of Agricultural Marketing.

Además en Herald

• Crisis finds banking industry at a crossroads
• Martinelli springs to the lead
• Transmóvil bus design, deadline debated
• Fewer victims of natural disasters in 2008
• Updates slated for Cerro Patacón dump
• Papaya project bears fruit
• Fifth day of strikes ends without deal
• Homicides at record high in 2008