Good agricultural Practices of Carrot: Crucial requirements
Carrot is one of the vegetative crops consumed by Indian people like other crops. Its soft leaves are used for vegetables and roots used for medicines and also for consumption.
Soil & Climate:
Carrot requires deep, loose loamy soils for better carrot root development. Heavy soils as well as very loose soils are not suitable for carrot cultivation. For getting a high yield with good quality roots ,carrot prefers a pH range of 5.5 to 7. It is necessary to have good drainage of water in the land. Carrot is mainly a cool season crop but some improved varieties can tolerate high temperatures to some extent.
The optimum temperature which is required for growth of carrot is 16-24 °C however the seeds germinate best at temperatures in between 20-30°C. Temperature has a very significant influence on colour development and quality of roots with a temperature range of 15.5 to 21°C gives best colour development in the roots. However at temperatures below 15.5°C and above 21°C will decrease carotene content thereby affecting the quality of roots. Very high temperature with irregular supply of water causes depression on roots causing rough surface of roots.
Land selection and preparation:
Flatten the field before sowing and do 2 to 3 deep ploughings. Apply pots after each ploughing to break the lumps. Mix the farm yard manure well while preparing the field. The soil should be ploughed to a fine tilth to a depth of 30 cm by removing clods,stones,etc.
Mix the recommended dose of fertilizers at the time of last ploughing,level the land.Later,before sowing, prepare ridges and furrows at 30 - 45 cm apart.
Even raised seeds beds can be prepared for sowing especially in areas with poor drainage during long rainy days,with a width of 1mt, height of 15-20 cm and length of 10mt or convenient length based on size of plot. Between the beds ensure furrows with a width of 40 cm for providing irrigation.
Basal application of nutrients to the soil:
Biofertilizers and FYM /acre
Farm yard manure (FYM) - 8 to 10 tonnes fortified with Biofertilizers - 5kg, Trichoderma-2kg, Pseudomonas - 2 kg. Mix biofertilizers with FYM and keep it for 5 days,then go for application to the main field/soil. After applying FYM rotovate or cultivate to properly mix it with the soil.
Note:
Essential Nutrients required per acre of carrot.
Nitrogen (N) - 60kg, Phosphorous (P)- 50kg and Potash (K)- 65 kg along with secondary, micronutrient and growth promoters.
Fertilisers for Basal application before broadcasting the seeds.
Seed sowing, spacing and seed rate:
The seed rate depends on the type of the variety or hybrids what farmers are planning to grow. 1.5 to 2 kg of hybrid carrot seeds per acre are required and 3-4 kg of other varietal seeds. Spacing may be 5 - 8 cm between the plants.
Before sowing,soak the seeds in water for 12-24 hours which ensure better and early germination of seeds but farmers don’t have the practice of doing that.
Created By:
Vanitha K.
Associate subject matter expert
BigHaat Agro PVT
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