YIELD AND QUALITY PARAMETERS OF CARROT (Daucus carota L.) ROOTS DEPENDING ON GROWTH STIMULATORS AND STUBBLE CROPS

An improvement in growth, condition, raw material quality, and resistance of vegetable plants to adverse stress conditions or agricultural pests can be achieved by using foliar-applied biostimulators. Cover cropping is also of great importance since it contributes, among others, to a better use of environmental conditions and fertilization by plants. In the period 2009–2011, a field experiment was conducted on the effect of growth stimulators and cover crops on the structure of carrot root yield (in the cultivar ‘Laguna F1’) and accumulation of chemical components in the storage root. The study included three growth stimulators: Asahi SL, Bio-algeen S 90, and Tytanit. Plots without foliar application of these biological agents were the control treatment. The other factor investigated in the experiment was the stubble crops to be ploughed under: tansy phacelia as well as a mixture of spring vetch and field pea. Stubble crops were grown after spring barley. Total carrot root yield and its fractions (marketable yield, yield of small roots, unmarketable yield) as well as some components determining root quality (the content of dry matter, carotenoids, L-ascorbic acid, and total sugars) were all determined. The present study has proved that all growth stimulators had a positive effect on the quantitative and qualitative parameters of carrot roots. The absence of application of growth stimulators was minimally more beneficial only in the case of total carotenoid content in carrot roots. Stubble crops, in particular the mixture of legumes, also positively affected productivity and quality of carrot roots.