Collection and documentation of Papaya germplasm in Kenya.
Abstract
174 words
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is one of the major fruit crops of
Kenya and the tropics in general. It shows considerable
phenotypic variation in morphological and horticultural traits that
can be utilized in genetic improvement. The objective of this
research was to collect and document papaya germplasm in
Kenyan. A survey was conducted in 6 major papaya producing
provinces of Kenya, namely, Coast, Nyanza, Western, Rift
Valley, Eastern and Central, using a structured questionnaire
supplemented by oral interviews. The survey was carried out
between June and September 2008. A total of 65 accessions
were collected from the six provinces. A number of accessions
were identified by small scale farmers only in their ethnic
languages such as ‘local’, ‘papayi’ and ‘apoyo’. Some cultivars
that had been reported earlier could not be traced in the
provinces, because of the impossibility of maintaining open
pollinated cultivars of papaya by local resource poor farmers.
Thus, there is need for documenting papaya germplasm as this
provides conservationists and breeders with relevant and up to
date information for their purposes.
Subjects
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