Comparative Study of the Agronomic and Organoleptic Performances of Some Varieties of Papaya (Carica papaya L.) Grown Outdoors and in Polyhouse in Kerala (India)

The present study was undertaken with the objective to evaluate the performance of papaya varieties under two growing conditions (open and polyhouse) in terms of yield and quality attributes. The study was conducted in Fruits Crops Research Station, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur during 2022-2023. The seedlings of seven papaya varieties, CO-3, CO-7, Arka Surya, Arka Prabhath, Coorg Honey Dew, Pusa Delicious and Red Lady were planted under both open field and polyhouse condition at a spacing of 2 m x 2 m in CRD with five plants per variety. Compared to the plants grown in open field, the plants grown under polyhouse showed an early flowering (75.68 days), minimum fruit cavity index (15.47 %), zero disease incidence to PRSV, maximum TSS (13. 67 ˚B) and total sugars (11.26 %) in CO-7 while maximum fruit length (18.84 cm) and fruit mass (2605.34g) were observed in CO 7. It was also observed that CO-7 grown under polyhouse showed an increased yield (55.20 kg/plant) as compared to the plants under open condition. Hence, it can be concluded that CO-7 can be successfully cultivated under polyhouse condition in Kerala with good yield and quality.