Tithonia Manure improves carrot yield and quality

Abstract

A study on the effect of decomposed tithonia manure on growth, yield and quality of Carrot (Daucus carota L.) was undertaken in the Horticulture, Research and Teaching field, Egerton University for two seasons. The field experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block design (RCBD), with 3 replications. The treatments consisted of four levels of decomposed tithonia manure (0, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 t/ha). Data was subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and significant treatment means separated using the Turkey’s Honestly Significant Difference Test at P ≤ 0.05. Application of Tithonia diversifolia manure resulted in increase in total fresh root weight, dry root and shoots biomass and root volume compared to the control. Total yield of carrots subjected to 3.0 t/ha increased by 33% and 18% in season 1 and 2 respectively compared to control. The sweetness of carrot was influenced at the highest level of tithonia. Key words: Nutrient, Carrot yield, quality, brix content, biomass.