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nafex - [NAFEX] FW: Earth's Papaya Bank

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  • From: "Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>
  • To: NAFEX <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX] FW: Earth's Papaya Bank
  • Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 07:05:15 -0800



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From: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Reply-To: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2004 07:45:10 -0500
To: ARS News subscriber <lonrom@hevanet.com>
Subject: Earth's Papaya Bank

STORY LEAD:
Planet's Papaya Protected in Hawaii Collection
___________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Marcia Wood, (301) 504-1662, MarciaWood@ars.usda.gov
January 14, 2004
___________________________________________

Both familiar and unusual papayas from around the world have a safe,
permanent home in Hawaii. They're part of a living collection managed by
Agricultural Research Service scientists based in Hilo.

Formally known as the ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository for
Tropical and Subtropical Fruit and Nut Crops, the collection includes
everything from Thailand's 8- to 9-pound mega-papayas to Hawaii's widely
planted, one- to one-and-one-half-pound "solo" varieties, each the
perfect size for one person to eat.

Other papaya trees at the repository come from Puerto Rico, Malaysia,
Taiwan, China and Australia, as well as from Central and South America.


In all, the collection includes more than 60 kinds of papaya. Some are
varieties of the familiar Papaya carica that we eat; others are lesser
known, wild papaya species.

Among the most unusual specimens is a papaya relative from Paraguay,
Jacaratia spinosa. It bears small, orange fruit and makes an attractive,
12- to 15-foot ornamental tree. At four or five years, it appears as
stately and mature as other species that are 30 to 40 years old,
according to repository curator and research leader Francis T.P. Zee.

Some of the papayas from South America, such as those from Columbia and
Ecuador, thrive in cold weather. So, they're planted in an orchard about
30 miles from the repository's Hilo headquarters, where the elevation is
higher and the temperatures are lower.

The repository helps ensure that samples of older papaya varieties
won't disappear as they're outsold by newly popular ones. Too, papaya's
wild relatives are protected there because they might otherwise fall
victim to land development.

The Hilo facility, described in the January 2004 issue of Agricultural
Research magazine is part of a nationwide network of ARS-managed plant
repositories. You can read more about it on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jan04/papaya0104.htm

ARS the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.
___________________________________________

* This is one of the news reports that ARS Information distributes to
subscribers on weekdays.
* Start, stop or change an e-mail subscription at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/subscribe.htm
* NewsService@ars.usda.gov | www.ars.usda.gov/news
* Phone (301) 504-1638 | fax (301) 504-1648








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