Earn Rs 25,000 per month through

papaya tapping
Binsha Muhammed
JUNE 13, 2019 06:54 AM IST

Open any social media platform and the chances of getting messages
extolling the bene ts of papaya are very high. Papaya seeds are good
for health, papaya can cure dengue fever, papaya can give glowing skin
and thick manes … the list of bene ts is pretty long. One message that
is doing the rounds is that papaya is the secret behind actor
Mammootty’s youthful looks.

Beyond these tidbits, no one really knows the worth of this large oval
sweet fruit that has roots in far off Mexico. But now, papaya in a new
avatar is taking Kerala by storm.

The novel papaya tapping will be a boon for rubber farmers who are left
in the lurch because of plummeting rubber prices. And everyone is also
sceptical on whether rubber will return to its glory days. The rubber
farmers can only ruminate over the good old days as price uctuations,
rubber imports and bureaucratic entangles have taken a toll on the
market viability of rubber. But the cost-effective papaya tapping is a
silver lining for farmers as it is lucrative for them. It is the sap of
papaya, like in rubber, that is lling the coffers of the farmers.

It may sound unbelievable, but it’s true. About Rs 25,000 per month
could be earned from one acre of papaya tapping. Many farmers in
Kerala are toeing the line of their counterparts in Tamil Nadu and
Karnataka who had hit a jackpot with papaya tapping. One such
Keralite farmer who is into papaya tapping is Ayub Thottolli hailing
from Wayanad. And Ayub reveals how to strike gold with papain
(papaya sap).

The Mexican touch

“Keralites usually experiment with intercropping, terrace farming and

oriculture, and they are interested only in farming that’s pretty
lucrative. The Kerala farmers will get into uncharted waters only if a
particular type of farming was a success in some other place. Papaya
farming started to make inroads into Kerala only after other states
found it raking in the moolah,” says Ayub.

“Everyone will be surprised to know that lakhs of rupees could be

earned from the papain tapped from papayas that are thrown away, but
initially I too had doubts regarding what will the quantum of income
and how farming could be done. I got very interested after realizing
that the farming technique was simple,” he recollects the days when he
stepped into papaya farming.

It was i-STED (Innovation-Science and Technology based

Entrepreneurship Development), an agency under the Department of
Science and Technology, which encouraged the farmers to tread this
path. This agency was instrumental in making bamboo products and
virgin coconut a success.

“I didn’t have to think twice to take up papaya farming as i-STED had

vouched for it,” adds Ayub.
Papaya trees should be planted where there are good sunshine and less
water, and one advantage of papaya farming is that it is conducive to all
weather conditions. It is better to cultivate the Philippines variety of
‘Sinta’ papaya as it gives more papain, says Ayub. The CO3 variety can
also be tried out.

“The cultivation of papaya is easy as no special attention is needed for

the trees. The fruits will be ready for tapping in six to eight months and
as in rubber tapping, tapping of papaya should also be done early in the
morning,” he adds.

A good option indeed

“We harvest papain and there are government approved agencies to

collect and store the tapped papain. The farmers will get their share of
pro t as price and other related clauses are xed as per the agreement
inked with the company that buys papain,” assures Ayub, who earns Rs
15,000 to Rs 25,000 per month from an acre of papaya cultivation.

Adds a new hue to papaya

Now, the humble papayas transform into something extraordinary. The

papain collected from the farmers is made into papain powder. Around
40 kgs of powder are made out of one tonne of papain, and one kg of
papain powder can fetch close to Rs one lakh in the global market.

“These are the number given by the agencies. The actual price will be
much more than Rs one lakh,” says Ayub. After tapping, the papayas
are sold at Rs 4 per piece to various bakeries as papaya is the main
ingredient of many candies.

Value-added products from papaya

Just think again if you have a notion that papaya is just a fruit. Papain
powder is one of the main ingredients in the majority of beauty
products in the market.

“Papaya is present in creams, powders, medicines and baby powders,

and also a vital component of packed meat and gripe water. Papain
powder is even included in poultry feed. Another point to be noted is
that papain-based products don’t have any side-effects,” Ayub adds
with utmost con dence.

Ayub is getting plenty of orders after he tasted success in this venture.

Moreover, young farmers are keen to meet him to learn the nuances of
papaya farming and tapping. Following the footsteps of Ayub and other
farmers who made it big in papaya farming, the government is
introducing this type of cultivation in various districts. In the rst
phase, papaya farming had been put in place in Kasaragod,
Malappuram, Wayanad, Thrissur, Idukki and Kollam districts. Many
farmers from other districts too are expected to take up this novel way
of farming. Ayub can be contacted at 9387752145.