Golden Surprise Papaya

In Ghana, dioecious cultivars such as 'Solo', 'Golden Surprise', 'Hawaii', and 'No. 5595', were introduced and commonly cultivated by farmers but they hybridized with local types and lost their identities after several generations. A number of types were collected at the Agricultural Research Station at Kade from 1966 to 1970 and classified according to sex type, fruit form, weight, skin and flesh color, flesh thickness, texture and flavor, number of seeds, and various plant factors. It was determined that preference should be given female plants with short, stout stems, early maturing, and bearing heavily all year medium-size fruits of bright color, thick-flesh and with few seeds.