Yield estimation in papaya

Abstract

Fruit yield is an important parameter recorded in many experiments on papaya (Carica papaya L.). Yield measurement is a time consuming procedure of weighing individually the harvested fruits throughout the harvesting season. Therefore, present experiment was conducted on twelve uniformly fruited plants of a near-homozygous dioecious papaya line, Pune Selection-3. Actual yield was recorded by individually weighing all the harvested fruits after colour break. At the same time, estimated yield of each plant was calculated by multiplying number of fruits with average fruit weight of the plant which was estimated by nine different methods comprising selecting varying numbers of fruits from different positions (bottom, middle and top) on the fruiting column. The method where average fruit weight was calculated by selecting one/two/three fruits each from bottom and top ends, and midpoint of the fruiting column provided the best yield estimate with 9.0/8.5/7.6% deviation, respectively from the actual yield. The study recommends estimation of fruit yield by calculating average fruit weight by selecting one fruit each from bottom and top ends, and midpoint of the fruiting column and then multiplying it with total number of fruits.