Effect of Different Soil Amendments and Variety on the Growth and Yield of Carrot (Daucus carota L.)

The objective for the study was to determine the effect of variety and different soil amendments on the growth and yield of carrot (Daucus carota L.). The study was conducted in Mampong-Ashanti which is located in the transitional zone of Ghana. The experiment was laid out in a 5 x 2 factorial and treatments arranged in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). There were two varieties (Tokita and Kuroda) and five different types of soil amendment which were: control (T1), 5 ton/ha poultry manure (T2), 45-45-45 kg/ha NPK (T3), 5 ton/ha compost (T4) and 5 ton/ha biochar (T5). Each treatment was replicated four times. Data was collected on vegetative growth and yield of carrot. Data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using GENSTAT Version 11.1. Results from the study showed that carrot plants amended with 5 ton/ha poultry manure significantly (P=.05) produced the tallest height and greater number of leaves. Application of 5 ton/ha compost recorded the widest (P=.05) canopy spread. Application of 5 ton/ha poultry manure recorded the highest (p < 0.05) fresh root weight, root length, root diameter and marketable root weight with the control treatment recording the least among all treatments. With respect to variety, Kuroda produced the tallest (P=.05) plants, greater (P=.05) number of leaves and wider (P=.05) canopy spread. In conclusion, the application of 5 t/ha poultry manure had improved growth performance with higher productivity in terms of marketable root weight and total yield. Among the two varieties Kuroda was the best with higher growth performance and yield.