Carrot

Root vegetables include carrots, radish, turnip, beets, parsnips, rutabagas, horse radish and Jerusalem artichoke. These crops are grown for their enlarged fleshy roots which actually consist of both root and some stem tissues. These vegetables are short duration and have high productivity. Best suitable for sequential cropping, intercropping and relay cropping which enables maximum use of arable land. Botanically they belong to different families but their cultural practices are almost similar.

Carrot Botanical Name: Daucus carota L. Family: Umbelliferae Chromosome No. 2n=18 Origin: South western Asia (Afghanistan)

Carrot is a popular cool season crop Valued as a nutritive food because of high carotene contents. Used as salad, cooked and in soups and stew preparation etc. Increases quality of urine and helps elimination of uric acid. Black carrots are used for the preparation of a soft beverage called Kanji, which is supposed to be a good appetizer. Red type is good for preparing various types of sweets especially Gajar Halwa in northern India. Carrot seed oil is used for flavouring liquors & all kind of food substitutes. Carrot seeds are aromatic, stimulant and carminative

Pusa Kesar Pusa Yamdagini Pusa Meghali Jeno Sel-333 Imperator No. 29 Asiatic or tropical type European or Temperate Type Varieties Produce seeds in plains. Do not require any low temperature treatment for flowering. Long and red coloured roots with white or creamy core. Rich in lycopene Requires chilling (4.8-10oC) for flowering, resulting its cultivation to hills. Medium and orange coloured roots with centre core. Rich in carotene Pusa Kesar Pusa Yamdagini Pusa Meghali Jeno Sel-333 Imperator No. 29 Chantaney Hisar Gairic Danvers Early Nantes Nantes Nantes Half Long Ooty

Varieties recommended for Himachal Pradesh Asiatic or tropical type European Type or Temperate Type Varieties Pusa Kesar Pusa Ashita Pusa Rudhira Nantes Chantney Pusa Yamdagini

New recent release Pusa Rudhira Pusa Asita

Pigment power being converted into nutrient rich varietal wealth

Classification of roots on the basis of shape 1. Long rooted: 25 cm or more in length, generally tapering. 2. Half-long rooted: Does not exceed 20 cm. Roots cylindrical with straight or sloppy shoulder e.g. Nantes Roots tapering with blunt or semi-blunt type e.g. Chanteney or Imperator. 3. Short-stump rooted : These are suitable for growing in heavy soils. Heart shaped: e.g. Oxheart. Oval: Early Scarlet Horn. Round: French Forcing.

Soils Carrots prefer deep, loose, well drained, sandy loams or loam soil with a slightly acidic reaction. The edible roots may become misshapened as a result of poor soil structure or obstructions such as stones, clods or trash Heavy soils likely to produce abundant leaf growth and forked roots. The roots tend to be more rough and coarse The optimum soil pH is 6.0-7.0. The soil should be thoroughly pulverized to obtain a fine tilth otherwise it results in deformed roots

Climate It is predominantly a cool season crop. A temperature range of 7.2 to 23.9 oC is suitable for seed germination and 18.3 to 23.9 oC for better root growth. The optimum temperature for better colour development of roots is 15.6-21.1 oC. High temperature results into early bolting though Asiatic types are resistant to some extent. Asiatic types produce seed freely under tropical conditions of the plains. Temperate types require low temperature (4.8 –10oC ) for 4-6 weeks at any time during development of roots or after maturation either in storage or field conditions for seed production. The seeds of European types are produced only in hills.

Sowing Time Seed Rate 8-10 kg/ha North Indian plains Middle of August- beginning of December Himachal Pradesh Low Hills August-September Mid Hills July – September High Hills March- July Seed Rate 8-10 kg/ha Seeds are to be mixed with fine sand before sowing to facilitate even distribution. The seeds should be rubbed to remove the fine hairs before sowing. To remove the inhibitor present in the seeds, soaking of seed in water at 20 oC for 24 hours and then drying at 20 oC has given encouraging results of seed germination.

The seed should be sown at a depth of 1-1.5cm deep on the ridges Spacing 30cm X 8-10cm The seed should be sown at a depth of 1-1.5cm deep on the ridges After germination maintain the distance of 8-10cm between the plants with in row by following thinning of plants.

Manures and Fertilizers Open pollinated varieties Farmyard manure (q/ha) N P2O5 K2 O (Kg/ha) 100 50 40 Full dose of farmyard manure, P, K and half of N should be applied at the time of transplanting. Remaining part of N should be top dressed in two equal installments at an interval of one month each. Excess of N affects the root quality like sugar, dry matter, carotene and vitamin C

Interculture and weed control Carrots grow slowly at the seedling stage, so removal of weeds is quite essential especially at earlier stage. For effective weed control, a pre-emergence application of 1.12 kg of propazine has to be done. Earthing up is also essential for better growth and development of roots.

Irrigation A pre-sowing irrigation is to be given to help the seeds absorb moisture and germinate properly. Carrots require an abundant and well distributed water supply. Dry weather followed by wet weather is conducive to cracking of roots. Carrots should be irrigated before any wilting of leaves takes place. It should not be irrigated heavily as it results in excessive foliage growth, poor quality roots and delayed maturity.

Harvesting Yield Asiatic types: 250-300 q/ha For fresh market, harvest carrots before plants reach full maturity in order to assure quality, For processing, allow roots to grow longer in the season to maximize yield. For fresh market, smaller, tender, milder in flavour and uniform in appearance are to be harvested for getting good returns. The common Asiatic varieties attain the marketable stage at 2.5-4.0 cm dia at the upper end. A light irrigation before 2-3 days of harvesting is to be given to facilitate the pulling of the roots from the soil without any damage. Roots harvested with top are called bunch carrot while those without the tops are called bulk carrots. Most carrots for fresh market are now topped which greatly reduces water loss from the roots and increases storage life. Yield Asiatic types: 250-300 q/ha European Types: 100-150 q/ha

Post Harvest Handling Roots are washed clean, graded and tied in bunches of 6 or 12 roots after harvesting. Fresh carrots can be stored for more than 3-4 days under ordinary conditions. At temperature 0-4.4 oC with 93-98 % RH, roots can be stored for 3-4 months. Under cold storage at 32 oF with high humidity (98-100%), mature topped carrots can be stored upto 7-9 months immature usually not more than 2-3 weeks

PHYSIOLOGICAL DISORDERS

1. Root splitting Splitting or cracking of carrot roots is a major problem. Generally controlled by genic factors. Number of other factors may also be involved. Possible Reasons Wider spacing as larger roots tend to split more Dry weather followed by wet weather is conducive to cracking of roots. Increases as the amount of N in the soil increases & high soil concentration of ammonium compounds cause more serious splitting than other forms of N. Increased by chlorides and reduced by low N Early cultivars tend to split more readily than late ones.

2. Cavity spot Possible Reasons It appears as a cavity in the cortex. Possible Reasons Ca deficiency, associated with an increased accumulation of K and decreased accumulation of Ca Increase in Ca level in the growing medium results in increased Ca accumulation in the plant and a significant reduction in the incidence of cavity spot.

3. Forking Excess moisture during the root development A common disorder in carrot and radish formed by the enlargement of secondary root growth Possible Reasons Excess moisture during the root development It occurs also in heavy soils due to soil compactness. Management Balanced irrigation. Sandy loam & light soils are preferred for sowing (loose & friable)

Diseases (not very serious problem) Leaf blight. Leaf spot or cercospora blight: proper drainage. Powdery mildew. Watery soft rot. Black rot. Bacterial soft rot.

Insects (not very serious problem) Rust fly-Apply malathion dust@ 5% or Folidol dust@ 2% Turnip moth-Spray malathion@ 0.05%