BRS Paranoá: carrot for organic production systems

Abstract

‘BRS Paranoá’ was obtained by the carrot breeding program of Embrapa Hortaliças, aiming to obtain a cultivar adapted to most carrot-producing regions in an organic system. It was developed through selection of half-sib progenies and validated in Brazil. ‘BRS Paranoá’ is indicated for sowing in the spring/summer seasons especially because it displays high resistance to leaf blight caused by the fungal and bacterial association (Alternaria dauci, Cercospora carotae, and Xanthomonas hortorum pv. carotae) with defoliation between 20 to 25% at 100 days after planting (DAP), eliminating the need to control this disease with chemical pesticides. In addition, it shows high production stability and an outstanding production exceeding 32 t ha-1. ‘BRS Paranoá’ is an early maturity cultivar, and the harvest can be carried out from 85 DAP when the commercial roots range from 16 to 22 cm, 3 cm diameter, intense orange color, cylindrical shape, and no external or internal physiological defects. The postharvest quality was evaluated and the titratable acidity found was 0.20%, 6.9oBrix soluble solids, 78.40 µg g-1 total carotenoids, and 22.69 µg g-1 ß-carotene (provitamin A). ‘BRS Paranoá’ was registered and protected by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply and its seeds have been marketed by the main vegetable seeds companies in Brazil.