Fruit deformity in papaya: field screening, nutrient composition and amelioration by boron application

Abstract

Boron deficiency is a major production constraint of papaya under alkali (light) soils of India. Fruit deformity is an emerging physiological anomaly in developing papaya fruits. Systematic field screening was conducted in eighteen papaya germplasm to observe the severity of this disorder under spring transplanted crop. The disorder severity, fruit yield and economic losses due to physiological disorders were also observed. Germplasm, Pune Selection-3 was most sensitive (67.02 %) for the disorder, while PL (13/96), PN (13/86), Pusa Selection Red, Pusa Nanha and FPL-6 were most tolerant (≤4.46%) under agro-climatic conditions of India. The nutrient analysis of leaf and fruits of papaya plants indicated that the fruit deformity was caused due to boron deficiency. Basal application of borax @ 5 g/plant was most effective in increasing the B level in leaf and fruits (73.6 and 49.1 ppm, respectively) without any toxicity.