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

Peach, classified under Rosaceae family, is a temperate, fleshy stone fruit, which produces seeds that undergoes dormancy and take time to germinate after harvest. An interval of after ripening is required for specific biochemical and physiological changes to take place within the seed, which helps the dormant embryo to resume growth. The field research was conducted during 2022-23 under natural conditions with the pre-soaking of peach seeds in distilled water (control); GA₃ (250, 500, 750, 1000 ppm); kinetin (100, 150, 200, 250 ppm); thiourea (1500, 3000, 4500, 6000 ppm) for 24 hours and then sown in polybags. The results revealed that GA₃ 500 ppm resulted in early germination (83), maximum germination rate (0.20 per day), germination percent (78.33%) and higher survival of peach seedlings (93.61%). However, final measurements for seedling attributes were reported at 180 days after sowing. Maximum shoot length (35.14 cm), shoot diameter (3.51 mm) and leaf count per seedling (42.44), highest leaf area (18.95 cm²), fresh and dry weight of shoot (9.34 g and 3.14 g), root length (15.41 cm), root diameter (3.24 mm), fresh and dry weight of root (2.52 g and 1 g), total fresh weight of seedling (11.86 g) and total dry weight of seedling (4.15 g) were also noted best in GA₃ 500 ppm. Thus, it can be concluded that application of GA₃ 500 ppm will help in increasing the seed germination and better growth of peach seedlings.