Sixteen years ago, Santosh Pachar bought some carrots for home consumption from a farmer named Mahavir from Laxmangarh Tehsil. The forked roots of carrots were very small, and the carrots were very good in appearance and taste. She admired the quality of carrots and wanted to cultivate such improved carrots on her farm. She adopted the route-to-seed methodology of planting at her farm to produce the seeds of the above-mentioned carrot. The selection standard of carrot for seed was sweetness, long route length, vermilion color, and softness. From the first year of the plantation, she collected the seeds, sowed them again in a small area of the field, and continuously adopted the same standard of selection method for 4 to 5 years. This was useful in stabilizing the desirable characteristics of the improvised carrots. Instead of conventional insecticides and pesticides, she used neem oil to control insects, pests, and diseases in her field.
Her improved variety of seeds is well adapted to high temperatures. The length of her carrot is up to 1.5 ft, with a very low percentage of forked roots. It takes around 2.5 to 3 months to be completely ready and is resistant to any pest and disease attack. It yields almost 630qt/ha and is less hairy. It’s the best quality carrots containing a sweet taste which fetch high market price due to its quality.
Smt. Santosh Pachar received recognition, selection in the residence program of Rashtrapati Bhavan, and a national award at the 7th National Grassroots Innovation Awards.
