The effect of line spacing and harvest time on carrot and Cenourete®, a baby carrot-like product, yield were evaluated under conditions of Central Brazil winter. Seeds were sown in order to obtain 6, 8 and 10 lines/meter, what corresponded to a distance of 16.6, 12.5 and 10 cm between lines, respectively. Harvests were made 80, 90 and 100 days after sowing. The cultivars grown were open-pollinated Esplanada and hybrid SugarSnax 54. Root and Cenourete® yield varied with all the main factors and no interaction was significant. The root yield of both cultivars increased with later harvest at each density level. Yield of Esplanada root was only marginally affected by line spacing. Although significant, the effect of plant density on the yield of SugarSnax 54 accounted for less than 5% of the variation in the data set and differences between means were not significant by Tukey (α= 0.05). Cenourete® yield from Esplanada cultivar varied from 9.4±3.9 to 15.2±6.5 t/ha and from SugarSnax 54 it varied from 9.9±3.9 to 18.2±6.5 t/ha, depending on treatment. Anticipating harvest had a much greater effect in enhancing the recovery of Cenourete® from carrot roots than increasing plant density. Although it didn't affect total yield, decreasing line spacing to 10 cm was important to assure that a larger proportion of thinner roots were produced and consequently the production of superior quality Cenouretes® was higher. Harvest time was also important to determine the Cenourete® size since the increase in total production at later harvest was due to a higher proportion of larger Cenouretes®. The best combination line spacing x harvest time for Esplanada and SugarSnax 54 under the conditions of this experiment will depend whether the interest lies in the production of any or of a particular Cenourete® size.
Daucus carota; fresh-cut carrot; crop spacing; plant density; harvest time; Cenourete®; baby-carrot
