EFFECT OF DIFFERENT DOSES OF GIBERELIC ACID ON THE GERMINATION OF PAPAYA (Carica papaya L.) VARIETY CRIOLLA

Abstract

Papaya (Carica papaya L.) is a tropical fruit of great socio-economic interest in Peru. It is mainly propagated by seeds, which present a great non-uniformity in germination. The objective was to evaluate three doses of gibberellic acid (GA₃) and two imbibition times on the germination of Criollo variety papaya seeds. The research was carried out at the Department of Plant Morphophysiology of the National University of Piura (5°10'33" S, 80°37'17" W, 30 m.a.s.l.) from February to March 2023. A complete randomized design was used with four treatments and four replications, with 20 seeds per replication. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Fisher’s Least Significant Difference (LSD) test (p<0.05), using the statistical software Stagraphics version 19. The treatments were: T0 (control: water), T1 (150 mg L^-1 GA₃), T2 (200 mg L^-1 GA₃), and T3 (250 mg L^-1 GA₃), for 12 and 24 h imbibition. The following parameters were evaluated: germination percentage (GP), germination speed (GS), first day of germination (FDG), and germination index (GI). The seeds treated for 24 h of imbibition and at a higher concentration of GA₃ improved the GP by 72.5%, germination speed with 1.26 seeds germinated per day, germination index with 8.3, and reduced the germination time to 6 days. It is concluded that the treatment of 250 mg L^-1 of GA₃ during 24 h of imbibition improved the evaluated variables of ‘Criollo’ papaya seeds.