Effect of Time of Sowing and Chemical Treatments on Custard Apple

The custard apple is the most widely distributed species of the Annona genus in the world. Due to the hard and thick seed coat, it requires about 35-50 days for germination. Irregular germination, in custard apple seeds may be due to dormancy or due to a hard seed coat. Very limited work has been carried out on this aspect in India and in different parts of the world indicating, the utility of GA3 and chemicals for getting better germination of custard apple seeds. The date of sowing has its own importance in seed germination and seedling growth. For enhancing better, synchronized seed germination and growth of seedlings, seed scarification was used. Nurserymen have often encountered problems with germination and poor growth and development of seedlings restricts the availability of healthy planting material on a large scale. Therefore, it is highly essential to accelerate the rate of seed germination and growth rate by treating the seeds with various chemicals to obtain more germination percentages and healthy seedlings within a short time.