CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The papaya (Carica papaya L.) is a tropical fruit that is native to the tropics of South America. According to the historical reports, it was first cultivated in commercial producers of papaya centuries ago but is currently being cultivated in most of the tropical countries. The current largest commercial producers of papaya include the United States, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Currently many genetically modified hybrid varieties are commercially available for cultivation, which are more resistant to diseases (Jiao et al., 2010). Over the past 40 years the production of papaya has increased drastically. The estimated production in the year 2009 was 10.21 million tons (Ezike et al., 2009). Papaya is normally a single stem plant that can reach up to 10 meters, with spirally arranged leaves confined to the top of the trunk (Rice et al., 1987). It is a highly frost sensitive plant. The plant grows rapidly and starts fruiting within one and half to 3 years. The productive life of the plant is about three and a half year.