An efficient seed germination and seedling establishment protocol for hybrid Carica papaya Linn. with application of plant growth regulator

Abstract

In vitro germination of hybrid seeds of papaya (Carica papaya Linn.) was attempted in the present investigation. Hybrid papaya seeds were subjected to three kinds of treatments. First on semisolid medium Murashige and Skoog (1962), secondly on only inorganic salt solution of the same medium but without organic nutrients and with various combinations of plant growth regulators on coco-peat as support material and in the third set of experiment, the seeds without seed-coat with 6-benzyl adenine having coco-peat as support material. Results showed that the germination rate of the papaya seeds was inhibited by the seed coat. Therefore, the best 90% in vitro germination was observed when the seeds without seed-coat were subjected to 0.5 mg L-1 6-benzyl adenine in coco-peat containing vessels. The seedlings were subjected to in vitro hardening. After three months of transfer to greenhouse and subsequently in nursery, the young seedlings showed 90% survival. © 2014 Asian Network for Scientific Information.