EFFECTS OF BLENDED NPS FERTILIZER RATES AND PLANT SPACING ON GROWTH, YIELD AND QUALITY OF CARROT OF CARROT (Daucus carota L. subsp. sativus) IN TEHULEDERE DISTRICT, NORTHEASTERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract:

Carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) is an important vegetable crop in Ethiopia. In many areas of the country, the rain fed season constitutes much of the area under carrot production. Despite areas increase, the productivity and production is much lower in the country. Optimum nutrient management and inappropriate plant population are some of the major yield limiting factors for successful carrot production. Northeastern Ethiopia has suitable agro-climatic condition for carrot production. However, carrot production packages, including its NPS fertilizer rate and appropriate spacing are not yet determined in the study area. Therefore, this experiment was conducted at Tehuledere district from August to December 2018 to determine optimum blended NPS fertilizers rate and an appropriate plant spacing for yield components and root yield of Nantes carrot variety. The treatments were consisted of five blended NPS fertilizer rates (0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 kg ha-1) and three intra row plant spacing (3, 5, and 7 cm) with constant inter row spacing of 25 cm. Data were collected on growth, yield attributes, yield and quality parameters. Analysis of variance revealed that plant height, number of leaves per plant, fresh weight of leaves, root length, root diameter, core diameter, fresh weight of root, dry weight of root and fresh biomass yield, root texture, total soluble solid, pH, and titrable acidity were significantly (p