Jam, juice, jelly; the wonders of pawpaws

A look at the pawpaw trees on the farm named Kidenyi Organic Farm in Vihiga County gives one an impression that the trees are stunted.

But what amazes is that despite their shortness, the trees produce in plenty, each offering about 30 fruits at ago.

“These pawpaw (papaya) trees have no defect. They do not lack any mineral but they are of the dwarf variety,” says Francis Silingi, the production manager and one of the directors at Kenya Papaya Products, a firm that runs the farm.

Kidenyi Organic Farm, which sits on half-acre, has over 1,200 dwarf pawpaw trees that are slightly about a metre tall.

“We will harvest them this month and make jam that we blend with mushroom and soybeans,” says Silingi.

The further extract oil from pawpaw seeds, which is used in the beauty industry, make nutritious beverage from dried papaya leaves blended with Ganodama mushroom and tea.

“Our next project is production of pawpaw latex, an ingredient used in the pharmaceutical industry as well as making detergent,” says Silingi, noting that with papaya, nothing goes to waste.

They have contracted farmers to grow for them the fruits, specifically the Sunrise solo variety.

The company, according to Silingi, works with over 200 farmers from Kisumu, Vihiga, Eldoret and Uganda, who supply papayas for value addition.

“To make the jam, once we buy fresh pawpaw fruits, we first clean them, peel and crush in a pulper. The machine separates seeds from the fruit making it easier to collect the pulp from the seeds.”

The pulp is then pasteurised, as ingredients such honey, stevia, citric acid, mushroom flour and pectin are added.

“Out of the total weight, 50 per cent is pawpaw pulp, 30 per cent honey and 15 per cent stevia. The rest of the ingredients take 5 per cent. We don’t use chemically generated preservatives such as sodium benzoate. Ours is organic pawpaw jam,” he says, adding the entire process takes about an hour.
The jam is then left to cool before it is packed in 460g glass containers and sold for Sh250.

REVIVE PAPAYA PRODUCTION

Fred Omido, another director of the company and the administration manager, says they acquired the skills after attending one week training at Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute in Nairobi early last year and later in September, they contracted farmers and started making the products.

“Our production rate is 100 litres per hour, that is, approximately 250 pawpaw fruits.

We are in the process of making smaller sachet jams of 50g, 100g and 150g following advice from the Export Promotion Council (EPC), which organised a trip for us to Addis Ababa in March.”

The company, according to Omido, has made sales of over Sh1 million since they started.

“We sell out products only on order in Kisumu, Kakamega, Vihiga, Eldoret, Nairobi and Mombasa.

And through EPC, we have also sold our products to customers in Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria,” Omido says, noting the jam is branded Diana Papaya Jam.

According to him, the agribusiness that has six directors, was conceptualised in 2014. Other directors are Felix Asengi, Benson Oigo, David Omido and Irene Okwemba.

“Our motivation was to revive the papaya production in Vihiga.

Some years ago, there was a papaya factory in Gambogi that processed different products. After research on pawpaw products and where to source the fruits, we decided to venture into the business.

We contributed Sh3.5 million in total, which went to buying the equipment that include the pulper, registering the business, leasing land and buying of fruits from farmers at Sh30 a piece.”

For the pawpaw jam, which is their main product, they specifically use the Sunrise solo variety.

“We source the planting materials from KALRO in Marigat. We planted our own in July last year as we could not get want we wanted from farmers in plenty,” says Silingi.

The group has over 40,000 pawpaw seedlings, which the sell to farmers at Sh20 each.

“The seedlings are transplanted after three months in the nursery. A farmer should move them in the open field in 60cm deep, 60cm wide hole. Pawpaws start flowering after five months, harvesting should be done once the tree matures at about nine months,” explains Omido, noting their products are certified by the standards bureau.

FARMING MUSHROOMS TOO

However, the planting ratio of pawpaw trees, that is female vs male, sometimes poses a challenge to farmers.

Robert Musyoki, the chief research officer at Simlaw Seeds Company, says the planting ratio should be 30 per cent male, 70 per cent female and the rest bisexual trees.

“It is not easy to identify the sex of the pawpaw at an early stage of the growth. You should plant two seedlings in a hole and once they mature, reduce the population of males to 10 per cent,” says Musyoki.

He adds that pawpaw varieties such as Mountain and Sunrise solo can make a range of products such as jam, jelly, juice and several cosmetic items like oil.

The oil is used in the beauty industry as an anti-aging skin care agent when making body lotions, creams and hair conditioners. Papaya oil also makes great massage oil.

Oil from the fruit can also be used as a food additive to boost the immune system. Papaya contains vitamins C and B and minerals that include potassium, copper and magnesium.

The fruit further contains digestive enzyme, papain which helps injuries to heal faster and is a remedy to allergies. Papaya aside, the farmers also grow Ganodama and Oyster mushrooms in a greenhouse measuring 15 by 45 feet.

According to Silingi, they produce up to 5,000kg of fresh mushroom under good management for three months.

The mushroom seeds are planted on a mixture of bagasse, molasses, cotton seeds and lime.

The materials are sterilised with bleaching agent such as jik, which inhibits the growth of competitor mushrooms, bacteria and virus.
Mushrooms thrive in temperatures of 16 to 30 degrees Celsius.

“We sell fresh mushroom packed in 250g sachets at Sh100. The mushroom is also processed into flour and packed in 1kg packet that goes at Sh150,” says Omido.

They market their products mainly through their website, social media and agribusiness exhibitions.

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Requirements for papaya growing

• Papaya is a tropical plant that grows best in warmer climates.
• They perform best on deep, well drained soils with high organic matter.
• Most soil types are suitable but avoid heavy clay soils.
• Good drainage is very important for papaya production to minimise loss of trees to root rots and water-logging.

• The trees should be planted between 2m apart and regular mulching is recommended.