Effect of Ga3, Nano zinc and Nano boron on seed germination, plant growth and establishment of Papaya cv. Red lady

Abstract

The experiment was carried out at Department of Horticulture, Naini Agricultural Institute, SHUATS, Prayagraj during the year 2024- 2025. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design comprising of 9 treatments viz., T0 Control, T1 Nano Zinc @ 10 ppm (Foliar application), T2 Nano Zinc @ 20 ppm (Foliar application), T3 Nano Zinc @ 30 ppm (Foliar application), T4 Nano Zinc @ 40 ppm (Foliar application), T5 Nano Boron @ 15ppm (Foliar application), T6 Nano Boron @ 20ppm (Foliar application), T7 Nano Boron @ 25ppm (Foliar application), T8 Nano Boron @ 25ppm (Foliar application) with three replications. The treatments in each replication were allotted randomly. The Papaya seeds were pre-treated with GA3 @ 200ppm GA3 before being sown in pot trays with the potting mixture consisting of soil, cocopeat and FYM in 1:1:1 ratio. The observations were recorded are days to germination (7.4 days), germination percentage (91.8%), seedling height (20.88 cm), number of leaves (18.07), stem diameter (13.22 mm), chlorophyll content (38.54), leaf area (83.71 cm2), leaf area index (17.46), shoot : root ratio (4.19), specific leaf area (1.15 cm2mg-1), absolute growth rate (0.21 cmday-1) and survival percentage (84.83%). The results revealed that the treatment T7 was found to be the most suitable in all the above mentioned parameters.