CARROT PRODUCTION

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

CARROT PRODUCTION
 Carrot also known as Daucus carota which belongs to the
Apiacea family
 Carrots are a cool weather crop, they grow slower in the
cold season
 When it is too hot the roots become short , heat also
negatively affects its germination.
 Soil pH 4.5-6.8
 Sandy loam soils
 300,000 plants per hectare
 45 tons per hectare

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG
Varieties
Imperator
Nantes
Amsterdam
Kuroda

Soils
Soils required for carrots are well drained and sandy soils, with
a pH of 5.8-6.5
Roots in humus or manure fork too much hence it is
discouraged to plant with manure

Planting
Planting must be done in beds and direct planting.
Make small shallow farrows
The seeds are extremely tiny hence when sowing you are
advised to put very little seed.

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

The furrows should be 25 cm apart
You must water after planting , they will emerge 8- 14 days
after

as you can see in the photo small furrows were made with the
side of a rake

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

It should look something like this

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

Thinning
Once the carrots have germinated you will need to thin them
thinning is removing some so that there not to many carrots in
one line. As their roots will cross over each other, this will
require you to remove the ones that are too close to each other
.
Fertilization Guide ( Zambian Fertilizers )
Apply a basal fertilizer before Planting ( VEG MIX C ) contains
At week 3 apply TOP 24 dressing
At week 5 apply TOP dressing
At week 7 apply TOP dressing
AT week 9 apply Top dressing
The top dressing being TOP 24 note that it contains nitrogen
and Potassium
Drench Magnesium sulpahte and mono ammonium
phosphate every week till the 9th week

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

Do not apply any manure or compost to your carrot bed

if you apply compost or manure it will FORK

MANAGEMENT

Weeding removing unwanted grass is required so that the crop

does not compete with the weeds.
As you weed make sure you do not leave the shoulders of the
carrots uncovered as they turn purple

make sure when you weed the

shoulders are not exposed

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Prepare a spray program PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE(
REMEMBER THE POWERFUL 4)

Diseases
Soft rot (Erwinia carotovora) – bacterial disease
Symptoms:
1. Sunken dull-orange lesions on taproot
2. Causes tissues to collapse and become soft – hence the name
3. Rotten tissue is grey to brown, accompanied by foul odour
4. Once advanced the rot turns watery
5. In the field, tops of rotting roots turn yellow and wilt as roots
break down

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

Alternaria blight (Alternaria dauci) - Fungal disease
• Prevalent in summer when temperatures are high and the
leaves remain wet following good rainfall and high humidity
• Symptoms begin as smaller green-brown water-soaked
lesions on leaves which enlarge and turn dark brown or black
• Older leaves are more susceptible
• Wet foliage and warm weather

Pests
Root knot nematode is an important pest that causes
deformation of roots

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

• blocking water and nutrient supply
• Management: prophylactic application of carbofuran at
planting
• Practise crop rotation –involving non-susceptible crops

the carrots look bumpy

aphids

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

cutworms

Follow what measure you can use from our spray program
below are chemicals that can be used interchangeably with the
active ingredients and not trade names
Remember
1) fungicide
Soft rot

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

Metalaxyl
Feniamidone
Alternaria blight
Dithane
Benomyl
Iprodione
2) Insecticide
Root Knot Nematodes
carbofuran
Cutworms control
Chlorpyrifos
Cypemethrine
Aphids
Flonicamid
Sulfoxlar

3) buffer
4) sticking agent

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

Harvesting
Ready at 2-3 months old.

Size required and cultivar affect when harvesting can be done

At harvesting, ensure soil is soft enough to reduce damages –
irrigate
Harvest by pulling them out

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG

Ensure to wash the carrots after harvesting as they will look
more presentable.
Some clients prefer carrots with the leaves and are bunched
with rubber bands that way.

EXTRAORDINARY AGROPRENUERS COPYRIGHT 2020 ELIZABETH MAANDA SIANG