TITLE:
Influence of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on Root Yield, Yield Components and Shelf-Life of Carrot (Daucus carota)
AUTHORS:
Jemima Naa Amerley Amartey, Joseph Sarkodie-Addo, Harrison Kwame Dapaah, Margret Esi Essilfie
KEYWORDS:
Cattle Dung, Poultry Manure, Gliricidia sepium, Leucaena leucocephala, Yield and Yield Components, Shelf-Life
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.16 No.5,
May
27,
2025
ABSTRACT: High soil fertility is pre-requisite to enhancing crop production and obtaining high yields. Field studies were conducted in the 2018 major and minor seasons to assess the yield, yield components and shelf-life response of carrot to organic and inorganic fertilizers and their combinations at the Multipurpose nursery research site at the College of Agriculture Education, AAMUSTED, Mampong-Ashanti, Ghana. A randomized complete block design with four replications was used. The treatments were: (i) 10 t/ha cattle dung (full CD), (ii)10 t/ha poultry manure (full PM), (iii) 300 kg/ha NPK (full NPK), (iv)10 t/ha Gliricidia sepium prunnings (full GP), (v)10 t/ha Leucaena leucocephalai prunnings (full LP), (vi) 1/2 CD + 1/2 PM, (vii) 1/2 CD + 1/2 NPK, (viii) 1/2 CD + 1/2 GP, (ix) 1/2 CD + 1/2 LP, (x) 1/2 PM + 1/2 GP, (xi) 1/2 PM + 1/2 LP, (xii) 1/2 NPK + 1/2 GP, (xiii) 1/2 NPK + 1/2 LP, (xiv) 1/2 PM + 1/2 NPK, and (xv) control (no amendment) Generally, the combinations of the organic and inorganic fertilizers produced greater root yield and yield components than the sole fertilizers and control (no amendment). The 1/2 PM + 1/2 NPK, and 1/2 CD + 1/2 PM treatments produced wider root diameter of 4.0 cm in the major and minor seasons, respectively. Root length of 23.0 cm and 20.6 cm was highest on full LP and 1/2 PM + 1/2 GP amended plots in both seasons. Carrot root yields in both seasons for the organic and inorganic combinations ranged from 24.3 - 54.2 t/ha, which was 9 - 14% greater than the sole fertilizers (22.2 - 47.6 t/ha) and 25 - 95% greater than the no amendment control (19.4 - 27.8 t/ha). The 5 t/ha CD + 5 t/ha GP (1/2 CD + 1/2 GP) and 5 t/ha CD + 5 t/ha PM (1/2 CD + 1/2 PM) produced the highest root yields in the major and minor seasons, respectively. Harvest index differed significantly among treatments only in the minor season, with 1/2 LP + 1/2 PM producing the highest HI. Averaged over both seasons, the highest number of forked, cracked and deformed roots was produced on full PM, 1/2 CD + 1/2 PM, 1/2 PM + 1/2 GP, 1/2 CD + 1/2 GP amended plots, while the least deformed, forked and cracked roots were obtained on the full NPK, full GP, full LP, 1/2 CD + 1/2 LP, 1/2 CD + 1/2 NPK and 1/2 LP + 1/2 NPK.