Vegetable plays vital role on overall profitability of the farmer. In district Kapurthala, about 14% area is under vegetable cultivation, out of which carrot is grown on 1200 ha area. The carrot cultivation is mainly confined to Sultanpur Lodhi Block. Farmer are raising this crop in rice-carrot-maize cropping system. Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana is continuously evolving new high yielding verities in vegetable cultivation. Recently, PAU has released carrot variety PC 161 with yield more than 256 quintals per acre. The total soluble salts are 9.5% and beta carotene content is 8.88 mg per 100 gm. This variety matures in about 90 days. To diffuse this new variety on farmer’s field, about 20 demonstrations are planned in the cluster area of carrot. In this regard, a Farmer-Scientist interaction was organized at village Chuharpur. Dr. Amandeep Kaur, Assoc. Prof (Veg. Sci.) shared cultivation practices of carrot in detail. She also discussed the nutritional value of this variety which further enhances the opportunity for processing. Dr. Ashok Kumar, Asstt. Prof. (Soil Sci.) discussed about recent technologies to maintain soil biological health through the use of bio-fertilizer consortium in vegetable crops. He further explained about the correct method of soil sampling for judicious use of chemical fertilizers. Dr. Harinder Singh, Associate Director (Trg.), KVK Kapurthala elaborated the role of KVK in technology dissemination and the facilities provided by the KVK. He assured that KVK is always standby with the farmers for technological backstopping. He advised the farmers to incorporate the paddy straw residues into the soil to improve the yield, quality viz-a-viz soil health. The lead carrot growers shared their long-term experiences of carrot cultivation. So, it was healthy sharing experience of knowledge and practices. Farmers were further informed about the availability of mulcher, reversible plough etc. for in-situ incorporation of paddy straw. S. Malkit Singh, a progressive farmer of village Chuharpur expressed his gratitude for KVK initiatives.
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