Influences of spacing on yield and root size of carrot (Daucus carota L.) under ridge-furrow production

Although there is adequate information on the influence of plant population on root yield and size of carrot on flat and raised bed for rain fed production system, information on ridge-furrow bed preparation method is limited for irrigation production system. Therefore, in this study, field experiments were conducted for 2 years to determine the appropriate spacing of carrot on ridge-furrow carrot production practice under irrigation. Root yield increased significantly as the population increased. On the contrary, root size significantly decreased as population increased. The result of combined analysis over season and locations indicated that the narrowest spacing of 10 cm x 4 cm rows on the ridge and between plants, respectively, which accommodates 1,250,000 plants ha(-1) gave significantly highest marketable carrot root yield of 26 t ha(-1) followed by 22.6 t ha(-1) with spacing of 20 cm x 4 cm which accommodates 1,000,000 plants ha(-1), but it produced the smallest individual root weight of 83 g which is mostly preferred for household consumption unlike jumbo roots. Therefore, in terms of root sizes and marketable yield, the current study identified that spacing of 10 cm x 4 cm is optimum on ridge-furrow carrot production practices.