Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2005VI50B

Water Usage for Papaya Production During Drought in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Institute: Virgin Islands
Year Established: 2005 Start Date: 2005-03-01 End Date: 2006-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $45,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: Not available

Principal Investigators: Thomas Zimmerman

Project Summary: Papayas, are a highly favored fruit of tropical regions. It is used when green as a vegetable and, when ripe, as a delicious fruit. The tourism and hotel industries have a high demand for tropical fruits to offer their guests to make their stay memorable. When papayas are seen in the U.S. Virgin Islands marketplace, they are most often the result of costly imports. There is a great potential to satisfy the need for papayas by local farmers. The semiarid environment and cost of potable water limits papaya production by the island population of small scale African-American and Hispanic farmers. The U.S. Virgin Islands has a distinct dry season when supplemental water is required. The objectives of this research are to study the water requirements of papaya during the dry season and incorporating drip irrigation and mulch for growing selected papaya varieties at multiple spacing regimes. Specifically (i) to integrate water conservation through drip irrigation and mulching into papaya production; (ii) to determine water use efficiency of papaya from multiple plant spacing regimes; and to (iii) demonstrate to small scale farmers the benefits of drip irrigation and biodegradable mulch in water conservation with agricultural production.