Cultivation of Carrrot

Insect – Pest

Symptom

Control

Silver Leaf- White Fly

 The silverleaf whitefly feeds on plants by piercing the phloem or lower leaf surfaces with its mouth and removing nutrients. Affected areas of the plant may develop chlorotic spots, whither, or drop leaves.

Whiteflies can be difficult to control with insecticides. Most less-toxic products such as insecticidal soaps, neem oil, or petroleum-based oils control only those whiteflies that are directly sprayed

Carrot Rust Fly

Damage is caused by larvae burrowing into the taproot. Young plants wilt and may die, but more often the plants are stunted temporarily and the carrots become bulbous, forked, and unmarketable. In addition, fungi and bacteria may invade the damaged tissue and cause severe rot at the crowns of the plants.

Deep ploughing and stirring of  Soil,flooding of fields so that caterpillars are exposed to birds  and other enemies. Hand picking and destruction of caterpillars found just under the damaged plant. Soil application

(drenching) of chlorpyriphos @ 0.1 per cent. Poison baits containing wheat bran + carbaryl + molasses be spread on the ground to attract and kill larvae and Mixing of insecticidal dust

Carrot Weevil

Carrot weevil females overwinter in the soil and plant debris and lay their eggs in cavities in the crown of the carrots. These eggs develop and hatch into larvae and begin to feed on the carrot root. Feeding damage from the carrot weevil larvae causes unmarketable tunneling near the crown of the carrot and can account for significant losses to commercial growers

– Spray lambda-cyhalothrin@34 ml/hac ( first  spray at 2-3-leaf stage when insects or damage appear and spray till the threshold arrived).

– Apply novaluron @166-332 ml /acre hac ( first  spray at 2-3-leaf stage when insects or damage appear and spray till the threshold arrived).

Flea Beetle

Irregular shaped cavities along the length of the taproot of carrot. A trail of tiny feeding sites can sometimes be visible by the traveling down the length of the carrot

– Follow the early planting  -use of insecticidal soaps or oils such as neem or canola oil etc

Disease

Symptom

Control

Cercospora Leaf Blight

Severe blighting on carrot leaves and petioles can be seen if wet weather condition are longer during the growing season The whole  leaves and petioles may die on severely infected carrot plants. The symptoms can be  first observed along the margins of the leaves,  often causing the leaves to curl. Spots inside the leaf edges are small, roughly circular, and tan or gray to brown with a almost dead center.

Two to three years of crop rotation is recommended.

Apply  Foltaf (0.2%), Copper Oxychloride (0.3%), when the first sign of infection appears

Alternaria Blight

leaf spots firstly can be seen at the margin of the leaflets and these are darkish brown to black and are  irregular in shape. The Lesions produced on the petioles and stems are dark brown and often coalesce and girdle the stems. These spots are  more prevalent on older foliage and plants than on young foliage

– hot water treatment of the seeds at 50°C for 15 minutes is recommended.

– Treat the seeds with Thiram (3g/kg of seed) before sowing.

– apply Foltaf (0.2%), Copper Oxychloride (0.3%) for the effective control of disease

Powdery Mildew

The symptoms visible as white powdery growth on the leaves and petioles. Due to which leaves to turn brown and wilt.

Apply the Bavistin (0.1%) or Benlate (0.1%) at an interval of 8-10 days for the effective control of  the powdery mildew

Watery soft Rot

white mold appears  with  an black sclerotia on the crown of infected carrots. During the carrot storage, a soft, watery rot with white mold and black sclerotia

characterizes the disease. This disease more appers in the late sowing crop and during the storage of the carrot

This disease  can be control by the Crop rotation and the  weed control (to improve air circulation),Other factors are  planting of carrot on raised beds, winter

flooding, rapid cooling before the storage and proper sanitation of stores are necessary to reduce losses from this disease.

Black Rot

This is a seed and soil-borne  disease and is characterized by a shiny black decay at the crown area and a greenish-black mold on the taproot. The infected tissue of the root became greenish black to jet black due to the black spore masses. This disease may appear roots in the field well as in storage

Properly sanitation of the field  and adopting the crop rotation helps to keep the disease under control. The root surface should kept dry and stored at 0 C with 95 % relative humidity

Bacterial soft Rot

This disease appear due to wet field conations and  improper storage. The  Soft water-soaked, irregular lesions are visible on the roots. These lesions are superficial but fast spread to cover the inner tissues. The leaves may remain green until the disease on the tuber advances considerably. The whole of the plant gets wilts under the complete rotting of the tuber. A foul smell is given out from the decayed roots. High moisture on the root surface favours disease incidence chances

Planting on raised beds in poorly drained areas should be followed A Careful harvest handling, grading and sanitation are the only ways to reduce the infection chances. The diseased roots should be avoided to be stored along with the healthy tubers. The root surface should kept dry and stored at 0 C with 95 % relative humidity