The origin center of papaya is, very probably, the Northwest of South America, more precisely the Superior Amazon Basin - where the genetic diversity is maximum, what characterizes it as a typically tropical plant. Although Brazil is the largest world producer, the whole area of commercial production is planted exclusively with two groups of cultivars: Havaí and Formosa, evidencing a narrow genetic base. This work had the objective to evaluate lineages and hybrids, adapted to different conditions, with emphasis to resistance to diseases, carrying out agronomic evaluation of the promising papaya genotypes, in order to identify those best adapted to different agroecosystems. The acessions of the Papaya Active Germplasm Bank (BAG-Papaya) presented a high genetic variability to weight, length and diameter of the fruits, allowing to be explored in programs of genetic improvement. In addition, the analysis of hybrid plant suggested the possibility of genetic changes in important commercial characters. From the evaluations of 125 accessions of the BAG - Papaya at Embrapa Cassava and Tropical Fruits, it was observed that in relation to the Phytophthora spp., the accessions CMF 001, CMF 053, CMF 062, CMF 081, CMF 089 are moderately tolerant, and the accessions CMF 002, CMF 007, CMF 033, CMF 060, CMF 065, CMF 070, CMF 071, CMF 083, CMF 101 have higher larger tolerance level. These accessions are being used in works of plant breeding, aiming to produce resistant or tolerant lineages to the fungi.
Carica papaya L.; genetic variability; plant breeding
