EFFECT OF TWO SELECTED INTERCROPPING SYSTEMS ON THE YIELDS OF CARROTS IN ST. VINCENT

A study was conducted, on five farms under carrots for the past five years, to test the effect of two selected intercropping systems on carrot yield. Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) damage on carrots was compared with that on carrots grown in monoculture. Damage was estimated on a root gall index based on the number of galls and malformation of carrot roots which account for unmarketable yield. The chives-carrots and cabbage-carrots systems gave significantly lower unmarketable yield of carrot. The carrot monoculture gave the highest unmarketable yield. Total and marketable yields were not significant in the two intercropping systems as compared to carrot monoculture. When yields of carrot were adjusted for root gall index using covariance analysis it was found that the carrot monoculture had the highest unmarketable yield and root gall index (2.8)