Report Vegimpact cluster Myanmer – Bejo Zaden b.v. Subject: Carrot trials 2017-2018

Involved:

Ramanath Mangapuram, Crop Manager India (Bejo Zaden) Mike Anderson (Prime Agri) Thijs Hoveling, Jr. Area business manager Asia (Bejo Zaden)

Frank Joosten (Advance Consulting) Thi Mar Win (Advance Consulting) Elise te Kaat (Advance Consulting)

Support: Reinoud Tepper (Kramer)

Outline With support of the Vegimpact cluster Bejo has performed variety adaptation trials of different

commercial carrot varieties in Myanmar. PRIME Agri Techologies was involved as local partner and

responsible for conducting the trials (sowing, maintenance and data collection). Advance consulting

is involved as project manager and support for local contacts. Kramer was involved in supporting

local partners with sowing equipment. Bejo Zaden provided varieties and cultivation support.

Material/Methods Trials have been performed in 2 different locations:

• Heho

• Bagan

16 commercial carrot varieties haven been tested.

Heho, Shan state Trials were performed at Prime Agri demo farm in Heho. Sowing was done 5th of December 2017.

Harvesting was finished around 16th of May 2018. Germination rate of the varieties was with an

average of 83% very good. Heho farm does not have optimal soils for carrots, however growth and

development of the crop was good.

Yields of different varieties was promising and showed potential for the some genetics used.

(appendix I).

Bagan, Mandalay state Trials were performed at Prima Agri demo farm in Bagan. Sowing was done between 17th – 26th of

December 2017. Varieties where sown using a manual men powered sowing machine for small scale

farmers (Kramer). Germination and population of the trial field was good at time of visit (February

2018). Germination was with 66% lower than germination in Heho (83%) but still acceptable. Some

beds showed a slower development compared to rest of the field. This was caused by

malfunctioning irrigation system in the early stage of the cultivation.

Yield data was collected (Appendix I).

Picture 1. Bejo 3182 showing some good yield potential in Bagan trial field.

Results Aim of the trials was to see if genetics of Bejo would work under Myanmar conditions. The first trials

this season proved that this is very well possible. Conditions in Bagan appeared to be more

challenging compared to Heho. Heavy rains during early stages of plant development in combination

with high temperatures in later stages proved to have significant impact on final yields.

Next step is to explore which carrot types are preferred by the market and which varieties can be

grown by local farmers. In conclusion the results of this first variety trial (testing genetics under local

conditions) was successful. However due to limited knowledge on carrot farming (Bagan) and

suboptimal soil conditions (Heho) trials did not result in showing full potential of genetics used.

This in combination with difficult market conditions due to Chinese imports make carrots a

challenging crop to develop in Myanmar.

Follow up From technical point of view production of hybrid carrot varieties in under Myanmar climate proved

to be very well possible. However market acceptance of new carrot types and competition from

Chinese import made it difficult for project partners Bejo and Prime to find good marketing channels

for tested carrot types.

Next limited market opportunities growing carrots require good agricultural skills and practices.

More than onions carrots require proper soil preparation. Especially to reach full potential of hybrid

carrots this is of utmost importance.

Due to the above for season 2018-2019 no new carrot trials were planned/conducted in Myanmar.

Appendix I – Harvest data, Heho trial 2017-2018

Table 1. Yield data from direct sown carrot seeds on two different locations in Myanmar. First sowing conducted in Heho Shan Region, Myanmar) at 5th Dec 2017. Harvest conducted 30th of March 2018. Second sowing conducted in Bagan (Mandalay region, Myanmar) between 17th-26th December 2017. Harvest conducted 27th of March to 10th of April.

-

5.000

10.000

15.000

20.000

25.000

30.000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

gro

ss h

arve

st (

kg/h

a)

variety

Bagan Heho

Appendix III – Pictures field visits Bejo staff 2017/2018

Picture 2. Carrot trial field at Prima Agri demo farm in Bagan (50 days after sowing).

Picture 3. Carrot trial field at Prima Agri demo farm in Bagan (50 days after sowing).

Picture 4. Picture showing yield potential of Bejo 3182 in Heho trials at Prima Agri demo farm, 125 days after sowing.

Picture 5. Picture of variety #2 of Bejo in Heho trials at Prima agri demo farm.