Dormancia en semillas de papaya cv maradol roja durante el almacenamiento

dormancy of papaya seeds cv maradol roja during storage. the objective of this work was to determine the effect of humidity content of papaya cv maradol roja and storage temperatura on dormany. the work was conducted at the laboratorio nacional de semillas, empresa productora y comercializadora de semillas, la habana, cuba, from november 2006 to january 2008. seeds were extracted from papaya fruits cv maradol roja and dried to three humidiy contents (12%, 10,56% y 9,26%), and aconditioned in polyiethylene bags and stored at 15oc and 4oc. percentaje of seed germination, heigth and fresh weight of the seedlings were measured at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months in storage. there was a trend towards reduced seed germination during the first 6 months in storage (55,6%). after 9 and 12 months a significant incresase in germination was observed, independent of seed water content. seeds stored in environment at 15oc favored germination after longer sotrage compared to seeds kept in storage for shorter periods (3 months). seed dormany concluded between 9 and 12 months in storage irrespective of seed water content.