Carrot
Every month we highlight one of the many salt tolerant crops the Salt Farm Foundation has discovered to be successful under saline conditions.
Daucus carota
- Usually orange- coloured root vegetable
- High concentrations of alpha- and beta-carotene
- Native to Europe and Southwestern Asia
- Salinity tolerance: 0 – 7 dS/m
Carrot is a root vegetable that is mostly orange but varieties exist of a number of different colours. The taproot is usually eaten, even though the leaves can be eaten too. Carrot is a biannual plant. In the first year it makes its taproot (and then it is usually harvested), and in the second year it will produce a flower. Carrots are rich in alpha- en beta-carotene and a are a good source of vitamins K and B6.
The optimum soil for carrot is a loose soil rich in organic matter, free of debris, and either loamy or sandy. Carrots can take up to four months to mature. Carrots require relatively low levels of nitrogen, moderate levels of phosphate and high levels of potassium.
The salt tolerance of carrot is comparable to potato, or a little better. Various varieties with thresholds higher than ECe 6 (dS/m) exist. An additional bonus is, just as it is with potatoes, that carrots taste better if they have been grown under saline conditions.