10 Varieties of Papaya in India | Different Types of Papaya Trees

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Last Updated: 18.10.2023
Dhruvdeep Singh
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Meet Dhruv, a writer and nature lover from Amritsar, Punjab, who fell in love with gardening during the lockdown. With a B.Tech in Computer Science and over four years of writing experience, he brings a tech-savvy perspective to gardening. Dhruv's articles are a journey into the world of plants, offering exciting adventures for fellow nature enthusiasts.

Did you know that this fiber-rich fruit comes in different types? Here are the best Varieties of Papaya in India that you can grow and buy!

What is Papaya?

Papaya is a highly nutritious and popular fruit, native to the tropical regions of America. The fruit came to India around 300 years ago. It is a fast-growing, small tree that can go up to a height of 16-33 feet. The tree has a long trunk with sparsely arranged branches and has three types of sex; male, female, hermaphrodite. It can start bearing fruits in the first year of the plantation itself. The fruits are large-sized ad ovate shaped berries that have a yellow to orange pulp with a lot of seeds in the center. Let’s have a look at the best Varieties of Papaya in India!

Botanical Name: Carica papaya


Papaya Cultivation in India

Papaya is one of the commercially important crops that are cultivated in India. It holds importance due to its high medicinal and nutritional value. India accounts for 46% percent of the total papaya production in the world, making it the largest papaya producing country! The states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal are the major producer of papaya in India.


Varieties of papaya in India

There are many varieties of papaya present in the country. Some of the famous ones are listed here.

1. Pusa Dwarf

Varieties of Papaya in India

The trees of this variety are medium in size and have an oval to rectangular shape, where the weight of each fruit is around 1-2 kg. The type is suitable for the high-density cultivation with dwarf plants. It is a dioecious kind, meaning the fruit production takes place between two separate plants; one male and one female.

2. Pusa Majesty

This variety produces medium-size fruits; each of the fruits weighs around 1- 1.5 kg fruits. These fruits are round in shape and have good taste and quality. It is a gynodioecious line, which means that it produces fruits from the coexistence of both female and hermaphrodite populations of plants in the same place. These plants can start fruiting in 145-150 days from the date of transplantation.

3. Pusa Gaint

Varieties of Papaya in India 2

Pusa Gaints are vigorously growing plants that are strong enough to withstand winds and show sturdy growth. The fruits from this cultivar are mostly useful in the canning industries. These fruits are pretty big and can weigh up to 2.5- 3 kg. This is also a dioecious type of hybrid.

4. Pusa Delicious

Another gynodioecious kind of papaya cultivar that produces plants with an average height. These plants produce good quality fruits and start yielding in around eight months from the date of transplanting. The fruits serve as a table purpose variety. The fruits are of medium size and weigh about 1-2 kg. They have orange-colored, deep flesh, which has a fantastic flavor and tastes delicious, making them one of the best varieties of papaya in India!

5. Mahabindu

Varieties of Papaya in India 3

Also popular as Coorg Honey Dew, it can serve in both processing and table purposes. The fruits are yellow-green with thick flesh and ovate or oblong shape. Besides being long, the fruits are also rich in flavor and taste. This variety sells for high market prices because of the fantastic quality of fruit.

6. Solo

The fruits of this variety are best for your kitchen garden. It is another variety that is usually cultivated for table purposes. The fruits have thick pink pulp and amazingly sweet flavor. If you want to grow a papaya tree in your yard, this is the variety to plant!

7. Ranchi

Varieties of Papaya in India 4

One of the best types of papaya in India also comes from the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. The type is also a popular cultivar in some south Indian states. The fruits come with a yellow color pulp that tastes sweet. A single tree can also bear many fruits in one season.

8. CO1

This popular variety is a selection from the above mentioned Ranchi cultivar of papaya. It produces medium-sized fruits, round in shape with smooth skin and yellow-green patches over it.  These fruits come with good keeping quality due to its firm yet soft yellow flesh. One interesting fact about this variety is the absence of the typical papain odor.

9. Washington

Varieties of Papaya in India 5

It is another table purpose variety with the fruits that may range from medium to large. These fruits are round or oblong. It has separate male and female plants and requires both for the production of fruits. These fruits take a bright yellow color when they are fully mature, and the average weight of each fruit is around 1.5-2 kg.

10. Taiwan-786

Taiwan-786 serves for both processing and table purposes. This gynodioecious variety produces ovate fruits, each of which is around 1-3 kg in weight with oval shape, sweet pulp, and lesser seeds. The fruits of this variety have a good taste and long shelf life.

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