Botany and Improvement 49
CO-6: This is a dioecious variety with dwarf stature, large fruit size, good for
papain production and is a selection from Giant made in 1986. The fruits are larger
in size weighing 1.5–2.0 kg. Fruits are round to oval in shape with yellow flesh. Tree
yields 80–100 fruits. It is suitable both for table purpose and latex extraction.
CO-7: A hybrid between Coorg Honeydew × CP85; high yielding, red fleshed,
uniform in fruit shape, gynodioecious with good edible character, least summer skip
and stamen carpellody, yields 98 fruits/tree each weighing 1.15 kg, and was released
in 1997. This variety is similar to CO-3 but the fruit size is bigger. It yields 65–70
fruits per tree. It is obtained from a multiple cross involving, Pusa Delicious, CO-3
and Coorg Honeydew as parents.
A systematic papaya breeding programme was started in 1972 at G.B. Pant
University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, India leading to the develop-
ment of three superior varieties:
Pant Papaya-1: It is a vigorous dwarf selection bearing first flower at a height of
45–60 cm with a total height of 125–135 cm in the first year.
Pant Papaya-2: Plants are vigorous with medium height (150–220 cm) in the
first year bearing, first flowering starts at a height of 90–100 cm from the ground.
FIGURE 2.7 (See colour insert.) Important papaya varieties from Tamil Nadu Agricultural
University, Coimbatore: (a) CO-1, (b) CO-2, (c) CO-3, (d) CO-4, (e) CO-5, (f) CO-6 and (g) CO-7.