Vol. 9, Special Issue 10, Part J (2025)

The present investigation entitled “Effect of pre seed treatment on seed germination and seedling growth of papaya (Carica papaya L.)” was conducted at University Research Farm, GHRU, Saikheda in Rabi Season of 2024, are presented and described in this chapter. Data pertaining to various criteria used for treatment evaluation were analyzed statistically to test their significance and analysis of variance for these data has been given in appendices at the end. The research trail was carried on papaya crop cv. red lady. The application of fertilizers and manures in different form and combinations T₁-Control, T₂-Coconut water @ 25%,T₃-Coconut water @ 50%, T₄-Gibberellic Acids @ 50 ppm, T₅- Gibberellic Acids @ 100 ppm, T₆-Naphthalene Acetic Acid @ 50 ppm, T₇-Naphthalene Acetic Acid @ 100 ppm, T₈-Cow urine @ 20%, T₉- Thiourea @ 100 ppm, T₁₀- Thiourea @ 200 ppm, T₁₁-Potassium nitrate (KNO3) @ 0.25% and T₁₂ - Potassium nitrate (KNO3) @ 0.5% was used for the experiment for observed the growth and economics i.e. dry weight of shoot (g), fresh weight of root (g), dry weight of roots, gross return, net return and benefit: cost ratio. The result revealed that the Treatment T₅ consistently resulted in the highest dry weight of shoots (3.60 g), and the maximum fresh (1.20 g) and dry root weight (0.32 g). Economically, T₅ was the most profitable treatment with the highest Benefit-Cost (B:C) ratio of 7.56 and a substantial net return of ₹15,545. It also achieved an impressive 88% germination rate. All treatments with growth regulators or priming agents showed superior results compared to the control (T₁). The control had the lowest biomass accumulation (0.92 g shoot dry weight, 0.98 g fresh root weight, 0.09 g dry root weight), the lowest B:C ratio (5.98), and a lower germination rate (70%). In conclusion, applying Gibberellic Acid at 100 ppm is a highly effective method for enhancing the growth, germination, and profitability of papaya cultivation from seedlings. While the minimum value was observed under control.