CO 7 Papaya Seed — Sowing & Yield Guide

Quick facts

Crop: Papaya
Type: Open-pollinated
Season: All seasons
Maturity period: First harvest 9–10 months after planting
Expected yield: 900–1,000 q/ha
Suitable soil: Loam
Disease resistance: Moderate papaya ring spot virus tolerance
Release: TNAU, Coimbatore. Released in 1997 according to TNAU's own variety page (one other source says 1993). Several crosses among Pusa Delicious, CO 3, CP 75 and Coorg Honey Dew, purified over more than four years.

Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.

About this variety

CO 7 (culture CP-81) is a gynodioecious papaya released by TNAU, Coimbatore. TNAU's variety page dates the release to 1997 and says it came from several crosses among Pusa Delicious, CO 3, CP 75 and Coorg Honey Dew, purified over more than four years. The fruit is oblong with firm, attractive red flesh, 16.7° Brix TSS, 15.80% total sugar and 7.95 mg/100 g carotenoid. A tree gives 112.7 fruits and the economic life is 21 months. Stamen carpellody is low and no serious insect pest is reported, but like other papayas it can get foot rot, collar rot and powdery mildew. The disease rating above covers only moderate ring spot virus tolerance. TNAU's two pages give different yields: 200–225 t/ha on one, and 340.9 t/ha worked out from the per-tree figure on the other (45.96% more than CO 3). Both are far above the 900–1,000 q/ha (90–100 t/ha) shown above, so plan on the lower figure. One other source gives the release year as 1993; TNAU's own page says 1997.

Should you pick this variety?

Choose CO 7 if you farm in the south and want sweet, red-fleshed fruit with a heavy yield. At 16.7° Brix it is sweeter than Pusa Delicious (10–13° Brix) and Coorg Honey Dew (about 13.5°), and its 900–1,000 q/ha is the heaviest per-hectare figure on these pages, against 600–700 for Pusa Delicious and 400–450 for Pusa Nanha. TNAU's two higher yield pages disagree with each other, so plan on the lower figure. The catch is that this is a crop of under two years, not a long-lived orchard, and foot rot, collar rot and powdery mildew can still reach it, so it needs well-drained land. Choose Pusa Delicious if you farm in north or east India, Red Lady if you want the earliest first pick, and Pusa Nanha for a kitchen garden.

Sowing & cultivation

Full Papaya growing guideSowing time, nutrients, irrigation, pests, costs and prices for Papaya as a whole crop. This is the advice that holds for every variety.

Advantages & considerations

Why farmers may choose it

High sugar (16.7° Brix TSS, 15.80% total sugar) and firm, attractive red flesh, a strong table-quality profile
TNAU's trial data gives it 45.96% more yield than its older relative CO 3, and both TNAU pages put its yield well above the figure shown above
Low stamen carpellody (a common papaya fruit-set defect) and no serious insect pest, according to TNAU's variety page

Things to consider

TNAU's two pages give 200–225 t/ha and 340.9 t/ha, both well above the 900–1,000 q/ha (90–100 t/ha) shown above, and they disagree with each other. Plan on the lower figure and treat the higher ones as a ceiling.
One other source gives the release year as 1993. TNAU's own page says 1997, which is the date used here.
TNAU's page confirms that CO 7 can get foot rot, collar rot and powdery mildew. The disease rating above covers only ring spot virus, so plant on well-drained land and do not read it as full disease cover.

Suitable regions

States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.

Tamil Nadu
Andhra Pradesh
Karnataka

Planning the 21 months

TNAU gives CO 7 an economic life of 21 months. The first harvest comes 9–10 months after planting, so the picking window is only about 11–12 months long. Treat the block as a crop of under two years, not as a long-lived orchard.

Count your pits too. At TNAU's 1.8 m spacing, one hectare holds about 3,086 pits (10,000 square metres divided by 3.24). TNAU's seed rate is 500 g per hectare, with four seeds in each polythene bag, and seedlings are ready in about 60 days.

Start the nursery about two months before your planting date, keep one hermaphrodite plant in each pit once the plants flower, and book seed for your next block early so you do not have a gap in the market after month 21.

Can you keep your own planting material?

This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.

How it compares with other varieties

Every Papaya variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.

Variety	Best for	Maturity	Yield	States
CO 7this page	Sweet, red-fleshed papaya for Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, with 16.7° Brix and the heaviest yield figures here	First harvest 9–10 months after planting	900–1,000 q/ha	Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
Coorg Honey Dew (Madhu Bindu)	A semi-dwarf, sweet papaya (about 13.5° Brix) for fresh sale and papain in Karnataka	No separate figure published	High	Karnataka
Pusa Delicious	A well-known orange-fleshed table and processing papaya for north and east India, giving 58–61 kg per plant	First harvest 10–11 months after planting	600–700 q/ha	Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal
Pusa Nanha	A dwarf papaya (4–5 feet) for kitchen gardens, pots, rooftops and close planting at 1.2 × 1.2 m	First harvest 8–9 months after planting	400–450 q/ha	Delhi, Uttar Pradesh
Red Lady (Taiwan 786)	A compact, early, red-fleshed hybrid papaya for the commercial market, bearing at 60–80 cm height	First pick ~8 months	Very high	Andhra Pradesh

Other Papaya varieties in the finder, for comparison.

Tools for this crop

The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Papaya is selling for.

Subsidy and government support

Schemes that help with the cost of Papaya seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.

Frequently asked questions

What does 'CO' stand for in CO.7 papaya, and where was it bred?

CO stands for Coimbatore — CO.7 is one of a numbered series of papaya varieties released by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University's Coimbatore centre. It was bred through multiple crosses among Pusa Delicious, CO.3, CP.75 and Coorg Honey Dew.

How much does CO.7 actually yield?

TNAU's own figures differ: one official page gives 200–225 t/ha, and another works out to 340.9 t/ha from the per-tree count. Both are far above the 900–1,000 q/ha (90–100 t/ha) shown above, so plan on the lower figure and treat the others as a ceiling.

How long does a CO 7 orchard keep bearing?

TNAU gives CO 7 an economic life of 21 months. The first harvest comes 9–10 months after planting, so you have about 11–12 months of picking. Plan to replant or replace the block after that.

How does CO 7 compare with Pusa Delicious?

On paper CO 7 is the heavier and sweeter of the two: 900–1,000 q/ha against 600–700 q/ha, and 16.7° Brix against 10–13° Brix. It also gives the first harvest earlier, at 9–10 months against 10–11 months. Pusa Delicious is one of CO 7's four parent lines and is the one grown in north and east India.

Which plant do I keep in each pit with CO 7?

For CO 3 and CO 7, TNAU says to keep one hermaphrodite plant in each pit and remove the female trees. You can tell the sex only when the plants flower, so plant more than one seedling per pit and thin them out at flowering.

Which diseases can still hit CO 7 besides ring spot virus?

TNAU's page confirms that CO 7 can get foot rot, collar rot and powdery mildew. The disease rating here covers only papaya ring spot virus, so do not read it as full disease cover. Plant on well-drained land, avoid water standing around the stem, and keep an eye on the base of the trunk, especially in wet weather.

Was CO 7 released in 1993 or 1997?

TNAU's own page says 1997, which is the date used here. One other source gives 1993. Official pages from the releasing university are the safer guide, so go with 1997. The year does not change how you grow it. What counts in the field is the 9–10 months to first harvest, the sweet red flesh and the foot rot care.