Carrot (Daucus carota) is a root-crop known for its vitamin rich red/orange roots which are used in making
foods and salads. Carrot is known as “apple for the poor” because of its rich
in nutrients and low cost. Carrot also has a long list of medical and health
benefits for humans. So, farmers should follow modern cropping technology for
gaining good yields and profits from this healthy vegetable.
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| Carrots in Pakistan |
Botanical
Classification
Carrot
is a dicot plant.
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Daucus carota
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Kingdom
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Plantae
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Division
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Magnoliophyta
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Order
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Apiales
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Class
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Apiaceae
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Genus
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Daucus
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Species
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carota
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Climatic
Requirements
Carrot
is a crop of cold climate. Thus a temperature of 7 to 240C is good
for the germination of the crop. Temperatures between 25 and 350C do
not give good germination rates and the size of carrot root remains small. Temperatures
between 20-250C are best for healthy crop yield.
Soil
Requirements
Mera soil in good
tilth is highly recommended for good crop growth although carrots can grow in
most of the soil types. The carrot remains small in clayey soils and give off
many small roots, similarly, high organic manures are also not good for carrot
development because they will affect the shape and colour of the carrot. So,
for good and healthy carrots, halki mera
soils are best.
Varieties
T-29
is recommended by agriculture department of Punjab Govt.
Time
of Sowing
Agaiti (early) sowing
should be completed by the mid of August whereas pachaiti (late) sowing continues till the end of October. Time from
obtaining good yields in Punjab is in the mid of September. Imported varieties
are sown in November and December. For good results, the seed should be dipped
in water for about 12 hours. Temperatures close to 350C do not give
good germination rate.
Seed
Rate
Seed
rate of 6-8 kg per acre is recommended. Healthy seed with good seed vigor
should be selected from trusted sources. Recommended fungicide should also be
applied before sowing. In case of agaiti
(early) sowing, the seed rate can be increased to 15 kg per acre.
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| Carrots crop (Daucus carota) |
Seedbed
Preparation
Fine
seedbed should be prepared by plowing the field with deep plough thrice (03
times) at field capacity (wattar). Clods of soil and farm yard manure (FYM)
should not be present in the field because they will affect the development of
carrot roots. Weeds should also be cleared by daab method before plowing the field.
Fertilizers
1. Organic
manures
Organic
manures are best option. Well rotten FYM is good for the development of healthy
carrot roots whereas, incomplete or mildly rotten FYM causes many roots in the
carrots. Organic manure should be spread 2 months earlier to sowing carrots or
it can be given to soil one crop earlier in the previous season so that FYM is
well mixed when time for carrot sowing arrives.
2. Chemical
fertilizers
Nitrogenous
fertilizers are not good for carrots. 2 bags of DAP and 1 bag of potash per
acre should be well spread in the field at the time of seedbed preparation. 1
bag of ammonium sulphate should be applied after one month of crop stand.
Irrigation
Scheduling
Furrows
should be made at about 2.5 feet distance in levelled seedbed, seed should be
spread by kera method at a depth of 1 cm and cover it with soil. Then field
should be irrigated so that the water do not reach the seed directly. Initially,
irrigation twice a week and later, once a week is better, or the gap between
successive irrigations can be adjusted according to the field conditions. Irrigation
should be terminated around 2 weeks before harvest, so that carrots gain
sweetness and the uprooting also becomes easy.
Weeding
and Thinning
Weeding
is good in the early crop development. Weeding during week # 2 to week # 6
should be done to reduce competition for the crop. After that, the crop is
healthy enough to compete weeds.
Thinning
is also very important for good crop. Thinning should be done so that the plant
to plant distance remains 2-3 centimeters. Plants should be uprooted along with
roots; both weak and highly vigorous plants should be uprooted during thinning.
Harvest
Carrot
matures in 100 to 120 days, but for use as household vegetable, carrot is ready
to be harvested in 80-90 days. It should be harvested when diameter of the
carrot root reaches about 2-4 centimeters. Irrigation should be terminated 2
weeks earlier to harvest.
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| Carrots field ready for harvest |
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Daab: The practice of weeding the field in which the field is first irrigated and the weeds are allowed to appear, when the weeds have appeared, the field is ploughed after a few days to eradicate the weeds.
