Quality of Carrot (Daucus Carota L.) As Influenced by Green Manure and Plant Spacing On Forest Ochrosols in Ghana

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to study the influence of different green manures and plant spacing on quality of carrot at Enchi in 2015 and 2016. Four different soil amendments (10 t/ha Mucuna pruriens, Chromolaena odorata, Gliricidia sepium, 300Kg/ha NPK (15, 15, 15) and control) along with three different spacing regimes (25 x 10cm, 25 x 15cm and 25 x 20cm) were employed in the investigation in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) experiment. The result revealed that the branching (forking) percentage of carrot root increased with increase in plant population. Plants that received amendments recorded higher percentages of branched roots compared with the control. Percentage cracked roots increased with decreasing plant density. The highest percentage cracked root was produced by plants that received green manures and 300 kg/ha NPK whilst the lowest was found in control plots. Application of green manures improved the nutritional contents and biochemical properties of carrot relative to the NPK. Plant population density also influenced the nutritional content with contents increasing with decreasing plant density. From the results it may be concluded that application of 10/ha Chromolaena odorata along with 25 x 20cm better improved the quality of carrot in the study area.

Keywords: Mucuna pruriens, Chromolaena odorata, Gliricidia sepium, green manure, plant spacing.