Carrot "annual" or "biannual" herb belongs to family of Umbelliferae and it is native of "Europe". It is a great source of Vitamin A. Carrot is major vegetable crop of India. It is used for fresh consumption. Also, pickles and sweets are made from it. Kanji, rich source of carotene, a good appetizer, is made from black carrot. Carrot leaves are used for fodder purpose also used in making of poultry feeds. Carrot Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are major carrot growing states.

For good root development carrot required deep, loose loamy soils. Heavy soils as well as very loose soils are not suitable for carrot cultivation. For optimum yield pH of soil should be in range of 5.5 to 7 (pH of 6.5 is ideal for good yield).

Desi or Asiatic varieties: It is big sized, deep color and sweet in taste variety, but its fiber is found in more amounts.

European varieties: It is hard, smooth and contains less fiber. 

Pusa Kesar: It is medium sized, red in color and the variety matures in 70-80 days. It is good for sowing in plain areas.

Chantenay: Purple color and thick roots variety, which matures in 60-80 days. It is sweet in taste and smooth and soft.

Nantes: Deep purple in color, sweet flesh and thin shaped variety.

Jeno: It is high yielding variety which is released by Ooty district of Tamil Nadu.
 
Other improved varieties:

Kashmir Beauty, Early James, Punjab No.27, Golden Heart, Imperator, Early Honey, Pusa Meghali, Pusa Jamdagni etc. are the varieties released by IARI, New Delhi.
 

Plough land thoroughly and make land weed and clods free. Add well decomposed cow dung of 10 ton/acre and mix well in soils at time of land preparation. Avoid use of undecomposed or free cow dung as it will leads to forking of fleshy roots.

Time of sowing
In hilly areas, sowing is done in start-March to end-July and in plain areas, sowing is done in mid-August to end-November. For Desi varieties, sowing is done upto mid-October, for Asiatic varieties, sowing is done after August and then European varieties are sown in start-September to end-October.

Spacing
Use row to row spacing of 30 to 45 cm and plant to plant spacing of 8-10 cm. After thinning, keep plant to plant distance of 4-5 cm.

Sowing Depth
For good growth, sow seeds at depth of 1.5 cm.

Method of sowing
For sowing, use dibbling method and also use broadcasting method.
 

Seed Rate

Fertilizer Requirements (kg/acre)

According to ICAR, New Delhi recommended to apply Nitrogen@7-9kg/acre (urea@16-20kg/acre), phosphorus@2-3kg/acre (DAP@16-20kg/acre) and potash@19-24kg /acre (MOP@33-41kg/acre).

After sowing, apply first irrigation, it will help in good germination. Depending upon soil type and climate, apply remaining irrigations at interval of 6-7 days in summer and 10-12  days interval in winter month. Overall carrot required three to four irrigations. Avoid excessive irrigation as it will leads misshape of roots and numerous hair growth. Stop irrigation two to three weeks before harvesting, It will help in increase in sweetness and taste of carrot.

Take interculture operation like weeding and hoeing to keep check on weed growth also to provide soil aeration.

• Pest and their control:

• Disease and their control:

Depending upon variety, carrots are ready for harvesting in 90-100 days after sowing. Harvesting is done manually by uprooting plants. After harvesting remove green tops from carrots and then they are washed with water. It gives an average yield of 83-105qtl/acre

After harvesting grading of carrot depending upon size is carried out. Then they are packed in gunny bags or basket. Fresh carrots are stored for three to four days. At temperature of 0 to 4.5^oC with relative humidity of 93-98%, carrot can be stored for six months.