Conservation of papaya plant.

Team Leader

Sylvester Tosi

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

One-line solution summary:

Carica papaya is faced with several threats globally that have resultsed to its reduction poor performance of paya worldwide.

Pitch your solution.

Saving papaya from going extinct. Papaya is faced with several threats including diseases, pests, anthropogenic activities and climate change. Diseases can be viral, fungal, bacterial or pathogenic. Most of the diseases affecting this subtropical and tropical fruit are found allover the world. Some of the diseases include anthracnose, phytophthora stem and fruit rot, papaya mosaic virus, papaya ring spot virus, black spot, leaf curl, papaya bunchy top diseases and damping off disease among others, pests include two-spotted spider mites, fruit flies, whitefly, mealy bugs and thrips and birds. Solutions can be massive education of farmers, biocontrol, restrict movement of seedlings, discourage poor methods of farming, papaya is used in cosmetic industry,medical world to heal gangrenous wounds and burns,as a meat tenderizer and is also a natural source of food rich in vitamin. Source of employment, improve livelihood. High decrease in papaya plant numbers in my community and in the whole world.

What specific problem are you solving?

papaya diseases and pests which has resulted to reduction it the numbers of the plant globally. In 1990,Singh reported that of the 39 arthropods that infest papaya,4 insect and mite species are major pests of papaya. More important than mite and insect pests are pathogens that reduce plant vigor and affect fruit quality (OECD 2003). This problem is affecting the entire globe of the earth where this precious plant is found. Pests such as Toxotrypana curvicauda are the major pests of papaya. The major pests attack papaya foliage, fruits and roots include fruit flies, the two-spotted spider mite, whitefly, and nematodes (Morton 1987,Nishina et al 2000). Adult females of papaya fruit flies lay several eggs into very young fruits. Punctured fruits drop white latex. Larvae hatch and dig tunnels through the pulp to reach the seed cavity and feed on the seeds. Infested fruits eventually fall from trees prematurely (Mossler and Nesheim 2000). However, the major problem affecting production is not the damage to the fruit but rather that fruits from regions with fruit flies cannot be exported to regions that don't have these pests unless they are previously given a postharvest hot water treatment(Reiger 2000).

What is your solution?

Solution is to control pests and diseases and human activities facing papaya in present to increase yield and improve livelihood through the following measures :1.biocontrol(parasitic wasps) to control papaya fruit flies. 2 Subsidizing farm inputs that pertain papaya to make them accessible to farmers. 2.restricting movement of papaya seedlings to check in viral diseases as they are able to spread 3.disciuraging human activities that lead to ecosystem degradation 4.using appropriate fungicides, pesticides and insecticides with care putting into consideration the issue of ecosystem uncertainty 5.educating people on the important of biodiversity to them now and the future generations to come especially potential stakeholders 6. Putting in place strict laws that check on pollution activities by mankind such as polluter pay principle.6. Using certified seeds as some viruses are transmitted through seeds. 7.encouraging people to embrace use more use of organic manure to improve soil fertility as some nutrients such as boron are only released by organic matter into the soil. 8.treatment of soils before planting of seeds or seedlings 9.educating farmers how to plant and care for the plant

Technology used include, laboratory analysis specifically soil analysis, and disease culture (roots,leaves,trunk,flowers and fruits)

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

my solution to keep this precious plant from going extinct serves the entire globe of the earth where papaya is grown. This will improve livelihood in my area as papaya is consumed as food locally or used in industries. This will also earn revenue to the government as some products of papaya are exported outside the country. This will eradicate poverty as as papaya farming create employment opportunities .This will also promote biodiversity by checking in the adverse human activities that lead to loss of some species of both fauna and flora. This will also improve the health of people as papaya is a rich source of vitamin. This will also improve economic growth of people as papaya is sold in the markets earning revenue to the government through taxation. This will enable people to understand the importance of biodiversity hence making them to embrace it. This will also help to reduce on ecosystem degradation in my area and also worldwide as provides insight on the effects of anthropogenic activities. I involved the community by use of questionnaires which I used to collect data on diseases, pests, irrigation systems,education level, price of farm inputs, fertilisers they use on their farms,size of their land and so on.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Create scalable economic opportunities for local communities, including fishing, timber, tourism, and regenerative agriculture, that are aligned with thriving and biodiverse ecosystems

Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.

This align with the challenge in a way that, papaya is part of biodiversity and is also an economically important species of flora. In my community, biodiversity is dropping due to different causes as discussed above. Reduction and poor performance of papaya plant indicate degradation of the ecosystem. Therefore,in order to ensure that this doesn't keep on rising appropriate mitigation measures have to be put into place and people should seriously embark on restoration of degraded ecosystems in order to have a sustainable development globally.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Kakamega, Kenya

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Growth: An organization with an established product, service, or business model rolled out in one or, ideally, several communities, which is poised for further growth.

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.

I have selected this because it was an idea to carry out a project that will find out the causes of reduction in papaya in my region and try to bring on board the right mitigation measures in order to conserve biodiversity. And ensure that this precious plant does not keep on deteriorating in numbers as compared to former years. The project was carried out in Shinyalu region Kakamega county in Kenya. It has come to my attention that papaya is now facing divers threats from pests and diseases that did not even exist in this region in the former years. This problem has to be addressed before it's too late in order to maintain the health of ecosystems in this area and the entire world. Around 100 farmers are testing the mitigation measures offered by this project to the problem.

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Dr. Margaret Waweru(PhD) Karatina University