Vol. 10, Special Issue 12 (2021)

Author(s):
PB Chaudhary, SP Pandya and HA Chaudhari

Abstract:
India's diverse climate ensures availability of all varieties of fresh fruits & vegetables. India ranks second in fruits and vegetables production in the world, after China. As per National Horticulture Database published by National Horticulture Board, during 2019-20, India produced 99.07 million metric tons of fruits and 191.77 million metric tons of vegetables. The area under cultivation of fruits stood at 6.66 million hectares while vegetables were cultivated at 10.35 million hectares. The carrot (Daucus carota L.) belongs to the family Apiaceae. Carrots are particularly rich in carotene. They are consumed either fresh, as a salad crop or cooked. A study was conducted in Patan district of Gujarat state. Patan taluka was purposively selected because carrot crop was extensively cultivated in this taluka. Eight villages from Patan taluka were selected purposively in which carrot crop was extensively grown. Thus, total 160 farmers have been selected for the study and were interviewed with a structural pre-tested interview schedule. Ex-post facto research design was followed for carrying out the study. The result clearly indicated that 55.63 per cent carrot growers had medium technological gap. Whereas, the practices wise technological gap (above 60 %) was observed in varieties grown and seed treatment. The technological gap (up to 30 %) was found in stage of harvesting and time of sowing.