Tamale Tuesday Takeover Presents Today´s Short Story

Story of Papaya

Though the exact area of origin is unknown, the papaya is believed native to tropical America, perhaps in southern Mexico and neighboring Central America. It is recorded that seeds were taken to Panama and then the Dominican Republic before 1525 and cultivation spread to warm elevations throughout South and Central America, southern Mexico, the West Indies and Bahamas, and to Bermuda in 1616. Spaniards carried seeds to the Philippines about 1550 and the papaya traveled from there to Malacca and India. Seeds were sent from India to Naples in 1626. Now the papaya is familiar in nearly all tropical regions of the Old World and the Pacific Islands and has become naturalized in many areas. Seeds were probably brought to Florida from the Bahamas. Up to about 1959, the papaya was commonly grown in southern and central Florida in home gardens and on a small commercial scale. Thereafter, natural enemies seriously reduced the plantings. There was a similar decline in Puerto Rico about 10 years prior to the setback of the industry in Florida. While isolated plants and a few commercial plots may be fruitful and long-lived, plants in some fields may reach 5 or 6 ft, yield one picking of undersized and misshapen fruits and then are so affected by virus and other diseases that they must be destroyed.

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