Yield components of carrot as affected by nitrogen fertilization

Abstract

Throughout the growing seasons of 2005 and 2006, vegetation trials investigating two carrot genotypes (cv. Nantes and Almaro F1 hybrid) were set up to identify the effect of nitrogen on carrot productivity. The trial, established on an eutric vertisol, included four treatments involving increasing nitrogen application rates (0, 60, 120 and 180 kgN/ha). The research focused on monitoring the effect of nitrogen on individual root weight, total yield and marketable root yield. The application rate of 120 kgN/ha proved to be the most effective in enhancing individual root weight and producing the highest yields in the cultivar studied, the 60 kgN/ha rate showing the highest efficacy in the hybrid. The marketable root yield, as well as the proportion of high-quality roots in the total yield in both genotypes studied were found to be the highest at the lowest nitrogen rate (60kgN/ha) applied.