Growth and yield response of carrot to soil amendments and spacing

Abstract

Carrot (Daucus carota) is a widely grown root vegetable belonging to the Apiaceae family. Optimal plant population and use of organic and inorganic soil amendments either singly or in combination are some of the strategies that farmers can adopt to improve the productivity of their land. The major objective of this study was to contribute towards improvement in the yield performance of carrots through soil fertility management and optimization of plant population. Four soil amendments and nine levels of spacing were laid out in a 4 x 3 x 3 factorial randomized complete block design with three replications. Soil amendment significantly increased plant height, number of leaves, tuber length and tuber diameter whereby NPK+BSF (31.98 cm), BSF (6.49), NPK (16.28 cm) and NPK+BSF (36.14 mm) respectively had the highest values. On the other hand, soil amendment did not affect total yield and marketable yield. Spacing significantly increased tuber length and tuber diameter, in which 30*7 cm (16.24 cm) produced the highest tuber length and 30*10 cm (36.15 mm), producing the highest tuber diameter. However, spacing did not affect plant height, number of leaves, total yield and marketable yield. The combined effect of soil amendment and spacing resulted in significant variations in only the tuber length and tuber diameter, while the rest were insignificant. The interaction of NPK+BSF at 30*10 cm produced the highest tuber length (17.33 cm) and highest tuber diameter (39.29 mm). Application of NPK+BSF at a spacing of 30*10 cm performed best among all the four soil amendments and the nine levels of plant spacing. Based on the conclusions, it was recommended that carrot growers should adopt the application of NPK+BSF and a spacing of 30*10 cm to optimize the yield of carrot.