Monsanto Company, USA, will be providing a royalty-free transfer of its virus-resistant Papaya Technology to TNAU.

TNAU is facilitated by International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA). Clive James, Chairman and Founder, ISAAA, C Ramasamy, Vice Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) and Sekhar Natarajan, Chairman, Monsanto India signed on the agreement. This deal was inked in the presence of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

The technology transfer could result in the development of papaya varieties of better quality and good flavour with increased virus resistance that offers a potential 75 lakh quintals or 25% yield more to India’s papaya industry, the signatories claimed.

Papaya is cultivated in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Gujarat, West Bengal, Orissa, Manipur and Meghalaya. It is mostly grown by small and marginal farmers.