CARROT

CARROT


BOTANICAL NAME Daucus carota L.
FAMILY Umbelliferae
CHROMOSOME NUMBER
2n=18
ORIGIN Europe and South-Western Asia
COMMON NAME
Gazar, Gajor

USES
  • It is valued as a nutritive food mainly because of high carotene content.
  • It is used as a salad, cooked and used in preparation of soups and stew etc.
  • It increases the quality of urine and helps the 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 and all kind of food substitutes.
  • Carrot seeds are aromatic, stimulant and carminative.
NUTRITIVE VALUE (per 100 g of edible part)

Moisture (%) 82.2 Iron (mg) 0.7
Protein (g) 1.1
 Sodium (mg) 35.6
Fat (g) 0.2 Potassium (mg) 108
Mineral (g) 0.6 Vitamin-A (IU) 11000
Fibre (g) 1.2 Riboflavin (mg) 0.05
Carbohydrate (g) 9.7
 Nicotinic acid (mg) 0.6
Energy (kcal) 42
 Vitamin-C (mg) 8
Calcium (mg) 37
 Thiamine (mg) 0.06
Oxalic acid (mg) 5
 Sulphur (mg) 27
Phosphorus (mg) 30
 Copper (mg) 0.13

CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS
  • Carrot is widely adapted to cool climate but generally restricted to regions with low rainfall during summer and early autumn.
  • A dry warm atmosphere is desirable for maturing plants that are tough and woody.
  • A temperature range of 7.2 to 23.9oC is considered optimum for seed production.
  • Good colour and growth of carrot roots has been observed in the temperature range of 15.6-21.1oC
  • Seed production is suited to those regions which are away from coastal areas, where condition is drier for maturing seed.
  • For temperate type cultivars, a chilling temperature of 4.8-10oC for 4-6 weeks is desirable as cold stimulus (vernalization) any time during the development of roots. Seed stock formation takes place only when these plants are subjected to a temperature of 12.2-21.1oC. Plants grown continuously at a temperature region range of 21.1-26.7oC fail to develop floral primordial.
AREA AND PRODUCTION
  • Carrot is the most ancient vegetable grown during spring, summer and autumn in temperate countries and during winter in tropical and sub tropical climate.
  • It is grown throughout India all the year round in one pocket or the other.
  • The exact area in carrot is not available, however in 2008; the area under root and tuber crops (Combined) was 2.18 million hectares with an annual production of 44.6million tonnes (NHB, 2010).
SOIL
  • The soils of selected fields should be light, deep and fields should be well drained with pH range from 6.6-7.1.
  • Deep, loam and loamy soils are preferred for good crop.
  • For early crop, a sandy loam soil is preferred, but for higher yields, silt or silt loam soils is desirable. Long, smooth and slender roots desired for fresh market are successfully grown on deep well drained light soils.
CULTIVARS
European Type or Temperate type Varieties Asiatic or tropical type varieties
1. Produce seeds in plains. 1. Produces seeds in hills.
2. Do not require any low temperature treatment for flowering. 2. Requires chilling (4.8-10oC) for flowering, resulting in its cultivation to hills.
3. Long and red coloured roots with white or creamy core. 3. Medium and orange coloured roots with centre core.
4. Rich in lycopene. 4. Rich in carotene.
Pusa Yamdagini, Jeno, Imperator, Chantaney, Danvers, Early Nantes, Nantes, Nantes Half Long, Ooty, Solan Rachna. Pusa Kesar, Pusa Meghali, Sel-333, No. 29, Hisar Gairic, Pusa Rudhira, Pusa Ashita.
  • Many cultivars, some indigenous but mostly introduced are grown in India
  • Important exotic types grown in India are Chantenay, Danvers, Nantes, Early Horn, Early Gem and Solan Rachna for their long tapering roots and excellent quality.
  • Chantenay and Danvers are known for its long tapering roots and excellent quality.
  • Early Horn and early Gem are famous for their earliness and for their mild flavoured roots.
  • The carrot cultivars may be classified on the basis of shape of their roots or on their temperature response to flowering.

A. Classification based on shape of roots
1. Long rooted: Roots may be 25 cm or more in length, generally tapering and perform best in comparatively light soil.

2. Half long rooted: Root length does not usually exceed 20 cm.
  • Roots cylindrical with straight or sloppy shoulder, e.g., Nantes
  • Roots tapering with blunt or semi blunt tip, e.g. Chantenay, Imperator.
3. Short stump rooted: These cultivars are suitable for growing in heavy soils
  • Heart shaped e.g. Oxheart
  • Oval e.g. Early Scarlet Horn
  • Round e.g., French Forcing
B. Classification based on temperature response to flowering
  1. Temperate or European or biennial types: These cultivars are biennial in characters and require low temperature (4.8-10oC) treatments for flowering to occur. These do not produce seeds in the plains of India, e.g. Nantes, Chantenay, Imperator, Danvers, Zeno, Oot-1, Pusa Yamdagni etc.
  2. Tropical, Asiatic or Oriental or annual types: These cultivars do not require any low temperature treatment for flowering; they seed freely in the plains of India. Examples are Pusa Kesar, Pusa Meghali, Sel. No. 29 and Sel. No. 233.
Pusa Kesar:
  • This is a selection from a cross between Local Red and Nantes Half Long.
  • The roots develop on narrow central core which is also sufficiently red coloured.
  • It contains high amount of carotene (38mg/100g edible portion) than Local Red (26mg/100g).
  • Root stay about a month longer in the field than Local Red without showing any sign of bolting.
  • The percentage of forked roots is also lower than in local red.
  • Pusa Kesar can tolerate high temperature than Nantes.
Nantes:
  • It is an european cultivar which can be grown in plains of India for root production but not for seed production.
  • The roots are half long, slim, well shaped, cylindrical with stumped and forming a small thin tail, deep orange red cortex.
  • It ranks first in quality, but has a weak, brittle top which makes pulling difficult.
  • This cultivar is suitable for cultivation in cooler months.
Chantenay:
  • It is an excellent cultivar for canning and storage.
  • Roots are 11-15cm long and 3-5cm in diameter with tapering to blunt end, deep orange cortex and core.
  • Royal Chantenay and Red Cored Chantenay are another cultivars belonging to this group.
Danvers:
  • This cultivar is grown for fresh market as well as for processing.
  • It is mid season cultivars with large and strong foliage.
  • Roots are 12.5-15 cm long, 2.8-4.5 cm in diameter with tapering to short tapering or slightly rounded end, deep orange cortex and a slightly more yellow core.
Imperator:
  • It is cross between Nantes and Chantenay and is grown for fresh market.
  • It is mid season to late maturity cultivar with large and strong foliage.
  • Roots are 15-17.5 cm long and 2.5-4.5 cm in diameter with short tapered end, deep- orange cortex and slightly pigmented core.
Pusa Yamdagni:
  • It is derived from the cross between EC 9981 x Nantes Half Long. It takes 86-130 days to produce harvestable roots, which are long and orange and have a self-coloured core. It is earlier than Nantes Half Long and yields 16-144% more than Nantes Half Long.
  • Roots attractive, round, medium tops, orange coloured, medium length (18-21 cm) and soft textured.
  • Gets ready in 100-108 days, average yield 225-250q/ha, rich in carotene (915.14mg/100g of edible portion).

9.1c

SOWING TIME
  • August-November is the optimum time of sowing for Asiatic group while for European types it is October-November.
  • In higher hills, the seed sowing is done during March to July depending upon the temperature.
SEED RATE
  • 5-6 kg/ha
SPACING
  • 30 × 10 cm
Method of Sowing
  • For better development of roots, sowing on ridges is preferred over flat sowing.
  • Double row ridges 75cm apart produces large number of well developed roots than single row ridges.
  • The seed takes about 8-10 days for germination.
  • For uniform germination the ridges should remain moist till germination takes place.
  • Hence the field should be irrigated just after sowing.
  • Afterwards, when plants are 5 to 6 cm in height, thin out the plants to a distance of 6 to 7 cm.
  • For getting good yield, 200-300q/ha well rotten Farm Yard Manure is thoroughly mixed in soil 15-20 days before sowing of seeds.
  • Add 40-60 kg/ha N, 40-50 kg/ha P and 80-100 kg/ha of K.
  • Half quantity of N and full quantity each of P and K and Farm Yard Manure should be applied at the time of sowing.
  • Remaining quantity of N may be given 30-45 days after seed sowing.
IRRIGATION
  • Irrigate the field just after sowing.
  • Optimum level of moisture in the field is essential for better germination growth and development of roots.
  • Crops should be irrigated at an interval of 5-7days depending upon rain or weather conditions.
INTERCULTURAL OPERATIONS
Thinning
  • Thinning is the most important operation during carrot cultivation as thick sowing is done because of small sized seed.
  • The thinning operation is done 20-30 days after sowing to maintain 10 cm plant to plant distance
Weeding
  • Weeds are a serious problem and timely control of weeds is essential to avoid heavy loss in yield of top quality roots due to weed competition.
  • Timely weeding, hoeing and earthing up therefore should be done.
  • Generally two weedings at 15-20and 30-35days after sowing are sufficient to control the weeds.
  • Pre emergence application of propazine@ 1.12kg/ha or Amiben@2.24-4.48kg/ha or Diuron and monuron@1kg/ha controls weeds very effectively.
HARVESTING
  • Harvesting of roots depends upon the variety.
  • Hence, size of the roots can not be taken as reliable criteria to harvest the crop.
  • However, in general the crop becomes ready for harvesting in 65-85days depending upon the variety.
  • Sometime delay in harvesting even make it unfit for consumption.
YIELD
    • The temperate types are poor yielder and produce about 100-150q/ha whereas tropical types yield higher i.e. 250-300q/ha.

Last modified: Thursday, 21 June 2012, 9:37 AM