Nutrient Demand by the Carrot Crop Is Influenced by the Cultivar

Abstract

Farmers must carefully choose the cultivar to be grown for a successful carrot crop. The yield potential of the cultivar may influence nutrient demand and should be known to plan for fertilization application. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cultivar effect on carrot yield and on the nutrient content and quantities allocated to leaves and roots. Three experiments were set up in two crop seasons in Rio Paranaíba, MG, Brazil. In the first season, typical summer, 10 summer cultivars were sown. In the second season, summer-winter (transition), two experiments were set up, one with summer cultivars and the other with winter cultivars. The treatments consisted of the carrot cultivars distributed in randomized blocks with four replications. Fresh and dry matter of the roots and leaves was quantified. Yield was calculated based on fresh matter of the roots. The nutrient content in leaves and roots was determined at the time of harvest. These contents and the dry matter production of roots and leaves were used to calculate nutrient uptake and export. The greatest average for total and commercial yield occurred in the crop under summer conditions. Extraction of N and K for most of the cultivars in the three experiments went beyond the amounts applied through fertilizers. Thus, there was contribution of nutrients from the soil to obtain the yields observed. However, the amount of P taken up was considerably less than that applied. This implies that soil P fertility will increase after cropping. The crop season and the cultivars influenced yield, nutrient content in the leaves and roots, and extraction and export of nutrients by the carrot crop.

DRIS indices in three phenological stages of the carrot crop

“…This patterning was not necessary for K, Mg, S and Mn, especially when considering the optimum ranges calculated from the DRIS indices of the reference population. This is interesting because it enables the diagnosis of these nutrients in early stages, especially for K, that is the most extracted and exported nutrient by carrot (Aquino et al 2015). The optimum contents found by Malavolta et al (1997), at the stage 1, were similar to Ca and Mg and discordant for K and S. Factors such as cultivar, production potential and management system may have generated differences.…”

“…The accumulation of each nutrient during the crop cycle may be one of the reasons that led to the discrepancy on the contents and optimum ranges among stages. There was a reduction on the N, P and Mg contents over the carrot cycle, what may be explained by the increase in the shoot dry matter and greater allocation of these nutrients in the roots, if compared to the shoots (Cecílio Filho & Peixoto 2013, Aquino et al 2015. K is intensively accumulated in the roots (Dezordi et al 2015).…”

“…K is intensively accumulated in the roots (Dezordi et al 2015). However, it increased the optimum leaf content at harvest, showing that a high yield depends on the K availability to maintain high foliar contents (Aquino et al 2015).…”

Diagnostic Methods to Assess the Nutritional Status of the Carrot Crop

“…Despite the importance and application of leaf analysis, adequate contents for carrot (Daucus carota L.) growing found in the literature are out of date as they do not consider high yielding crops (Malavolta et al 1997;Hanlon and Hochmuth, 2009). In the Alto Paranaíba region, yields are high over 80 Mg ha -1 (Aquino et al, 2015), twice that suggested in official recommendations for the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil (CFSEMG, 1999).…”

Nutrient Recommendation Model for Carrot Crop – Ferticalc Carrot

“…The separation of winter and summer cultivars was due to the differences in their capacity for conversion of nutrients into dry matter (Aquino et al, 2015). The CBU obtained for N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and S for the root system were 78.7, 325.3, 27.4, 293.8, 649.2, and 1,676.8 kg kg -1 in the winter crop; and 65.2, 275.9, 25.5, 414.2, 815.6, and 1,447.6 kg kg -1 in the summer crop.…”