Organic carrot seed production in tunnels

Summary

Aiming at developing ways to produce organic GMO-free seeds, trials on different vegetable species were conducted in lightweight tunnels. Organic vegetable seed production is possible in Denmark for some of the late maturing vegetable species - when performed in tunnels. At the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences (DIAS) different growing systems in tunnel have been studied in both open pollinated and hybrid carrot (Daucus carota L.) for seed production.
Tunnel production of carrot increases yield and germination percentages compared to normal field conditions and yields in the range of 100 –250 g seeds/m2 can be obtained.
The lightweight tunnel production system can be widely used and modified for small-scale producers also in developing countries.