Vol. 11, Issue 5 (2022)

Author(s):
Loudiya Krishna Nayak and Amit Kotiyal

Abstract:
Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is a popular fruit of the tropics and subtropics of the world. There are well-known challenges in the cultivation of this crop in the present day, including incomplete germination and frost sensitivity, as well as fungal and viral diseases. Papaya nursery is normally raised through seeds. Various growing media and PGRs were used in the experiment, including soil, soil + FYM, soil + vermicompost, soil + rice husk, soil + cocopeat and soil + FYM + rice husk + vermicompost + cocopeat in a 1:1 ratio each, on the other hand, PGRs such as GA3 (100 ppm, 150 ppm), NAA (100 ppm, 150 ppm) and their combination (GA3 + NAA @ 100:100 ppm) were taken for the treatment. The result indicated that the different growing media i.e., soil + FYM + vermicompost + rice husk + cocopeat is found to be the most effective for better root growth parameters (time taken to germinate the first seed, number of roots, fresh and dry weight of roots) and shoot growth parameters (number of leaves, fresh and dry weight of shoot) was maximum. Among PGRs GA3 @ 150 ppm recorded higher values for root growth parameters and shoot growth parameters of papaya seedlings. The treatment combination of soil + FYM + vermicompost + rice husk + cocopeat and PGRs GA3 150 ppm showed better root growth parameters and shoot growth parameters. Therefore, it is concluded that the combination of soil + FYM + vermicompost + rice husk + cocopeat and GA3 @ 150 ppm were found most suitable for better growth of papaya seedlings.