Articles
REJUVENATING THE FLAGGING PAPAYA INDUSTRY IN MALAYSIA: THE ROLE OF MAFC
Article number
851_2
Pages
37 – 40
Language
English
Abstract
Malaysia was the second most important exporter of papaya in the world in 2004 with a total volume of 58,149 mt accounting for 21% of the global trade.
This declined rapidly after 2005 because of two reasons: the outbreak of the Bacterial Dieback (Erwinia) disease and fruit fly quarantine restrictions from China that affected 60% of our export.
The Malaysian Agrifood Corporation, Berhad (MAFC) started the initiative to rejuvenate the papaya industry in December 2006. The papaya was accorded the iconic crop status and 20 ha in the Permanent Food Production Park at Lanchang, Pahang was used to develop this crop.
The variety called Frangi is a new F1 hybrid with improved fruit storage developed by the company.
It was later sold under the Paiola brand.
A one ha seed garden was first established to produce certified pure seed.
A 15 ha model business farm was also established with the objective of demonstrating the performance of the new hybrid, innovative cultural practices (e.g. mulching and fertigation) and effective pest and disease management programmes (especially against Bacterial Dieback). The model farm serves as showcase to woo contract farmers to plant our papaya, as a training centre for Good Agricultural Practices and to use the harvest for postharvest studies, promotion, branding and market testing.
The results have hitherto been very promising – the fruit is well accepted in the local mega stores like Carrefour and Cold Storage and a limited amount have been exported to Singapore and Marks and Spencer (London). The future plan is to expand production to 1,200 ha over the next 3 years with 70% of it planted by contract farmers.
With an estimated daily volume of 80 mt of fruit at peak production, MAFC is building a Consolidated Processing and Packaging Centre (CPPC) at Lanchang to handle this volume.
The annual production from MAFC is about 30,000 mt which is close to the export volume lost since 2004. This will put Malaysia back on track as a significant global exporter of papaya.
This declined rapidly after 2005 because of two reasons: the outbreak of the Bacterial Dieback (Erwinia) disease and fruit fly quarantine restrictions from China that affected 60% of our export.
The Malaysian Agrifood Corporation, Berhad (MAFC) started the initiative to rejuvenate the papaya industry in December 2006. The papaya was accorded the iconic crop status and 20 ha in the Permanent Food Production Park at Lanchang, Pahang was used to develop this crop.
The variety called Frangi is a new F1 hybrid with improved fruit storage developed by the company.
It was later sold under the Paiola brand.
A one ha seed garden was first established to produce certified pure seed.
A 15 ha model business farm was also established with the objective of demonstrating the performance of the new hybrid, innovative cultural practices (e.g. mulching and fertigation) and effective pest and disease management programmes (especially against Bacterial Dieback). The model farm serves as showcase to woo contract farmers to plant our papaya, as a training centre for Good Agricultural Practices and to use the harvest for postharvest studies, promotion, branding and market testing.
The results have hitherto been very promising – the fruit is well accepted in the local mega stores like Carrefour and Cold Storage and a limited amount have been exported to Singapore and Marks and Spencer (London). The future plan is to expand production to 1,200 ha over the next 3 years with 70% of it planted by contract farmers.
With an estimated daily volume of 80 mt of fruit at peak production, MAFC is building a Consolidated Processing and Packaging Centre (CPPC) at Lanchang to handle this volume.
The annual production from MAFC is about 30,000 mt which is close to the export volume lost since 2004. This will put Malaysia back on track as a significant global exporter of papaya.
Publication
Authors
Y.K. Chan, A.G. Baharuddin
Keywords
Carica papaya, papaya industry, Malaysia, production, market
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