Performance of some Asian carrot (Daucus carota L. ssp. sativa Hoffm.) cultivars under Ethiopian conditions: Carrot and seed yields

- Long Beauty and Deep Red had high unmarketable yield despite their ability to produce seeds.
- Nantes, AUA-108 and DZARC-5 produced high marketable root yield.
- AUA-108 and DZARC-5 could produce seeds and hence are recommended for production.

A significant proportion of children in Ethiopia and other developing countries suffer from Bitot's spots, an eye disease caused by deficiency of vitamin-A. Carrots are considered as one of the cheapest sources of β-carotene (precursor of vitamin-A) to reduce the incidence of the disease. However, seeds of improved carrot cultivars have not been easily available to farmers to grow carrots, unless imported. Therefore, a study was initiated to assess the potentials of some Asian carrot cultivars for their ability to produce high quality carrots as well as seeds under tropical conditions in Ethiopia. Twelve Asian cultivars were imported from four Asian countries and were tested in three separate experiments at three sites representing the mid and high altitude carrot producing areas of Ethiopia. Nantes and a local cultivar AUA-108 (Haramaya University, Ethiopia) were used as controls. The cultivars were initially laid out in single observation plots. Next replicated experiments were laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. The results of the study showed that Long Beauty and Deep Red cultivars produced higher total carrot yield than Nantes but Nantes had the highest marketable carrot yield. AUA-108 and DZARC-5 were found to produce as good quality carrots as Nantes. DZARC-3 and DZARC-9 (cultivars with purple carrots) produced lower yields, bolted very late and were susceptible to Alternaria leaf blight. The carrots of DZARC-5 were tender, juicy and sweet and were liked by consumers. AUA-108 was also found to be adapted to the central highlands of the country. Therefore, owing to their good carrot and seed production potentials, AUA-108 and DZARC-5 were believed to enhance carrot production from farmers' own seeds and thus alleviating aforementioned problems of Bitot's spots disease while generating additional income to growers.