India is fourth largest contributor of oilseeds and Rapeseed and mustard contributes about 28.6% in total oilseeds production. After soybean and palm oil, it is third important oilseed in world. Mustard seeds and its oil is used for culinary purpose. Young leaves are used for vegetable purpose. Its oil cake is used for feeding cattle.

Mustard-rapeseed groups includes Indian mustard, Brown and yellow sarson, raya and toria crop. Indian mustard is grown in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, UP, Haryana and Gujarat also in some areas of south like Andra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Yellow sarson is taken as rabi crop in Assam, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal where as in Punjab, Haryana, UP and Himachal Pradesh it is taken as catch crop. Earlier brown sarson was cultivated in most of the area now its area under cultivation is decreases and replaced by Indian mustard. Brown sarson has two ecotypes Lotni and Toria. Toria is short duration crop sown under irrigated condition. Gobhi sarson is new emerging oilseed, it is long duration crop grown in Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh.

Light to heavy soil is good for mustard and rapeseed cultivation. Raya can be grown in all type of soil whereas loam to heavy soils are suitable for toria crop. Sandy and loamy sand soils are suitable for Taramira crops.

Toria Varieties

PBT 37: Early maturity variety, matures in 91 days. It is suitable for toria-wheat cultivation. Seeds are dark brown and bold in size. It gives average yield of 5.4 qtl/acre and seeds contains 41.7% oil.

TL 15: It is early maturity variety. It required 88 days to mature. It gives average yield of 4.5 qtl/acre.

TL 17: Ready to harvest in 90 days. Suitable for multiple cropping. It gives average yield of 5.2 qtl/acre.

Raya

RLM 619: It is recommended for cultivation in irrigated and rainfed area. It is ready to harvest in 143 days. Its seed are bold and contain 43% oil. It is resistive to white rust, blight and downy mildew. Gives average yield of 8 qtl/acre.

PBR 91: It get ready to harvest in 145 days. It show resistant to blight, rust and insect pest. It gives average yield of 8.1 quintal/acre.

PBR 97: Suitable for cultivation under rainfed condition. Ready to harvest in 136 days. Grains are medium bold and contain 39.8% oil content. Gives average yield of 5.2 qtl/acre.

PBR 210: Suitable for timely sown and irrigated condition. Ready to harvest in 150 days. It gives average yield of 6 qtl/acre.

RLC 3: Tall variety, ready to harvest in 145 days. Its average yield is about 7.3 qtl/acre. Its oil content 41.5%.

Gobhi Sarson

GSL 1: Ready to harvest in 160 days. Crop is short and not lodge easily. It gives average yield of 6.7 qtl/acre. Seeds contains 44.5% oil content.

PGSH51: Ready to harvest in 162 days. Tall and high yielding hybrid gives average yield of 7.9 qtl/acre. Seeds content 44.5% oil content.

Gobhi sarson (canola type): Oil of canola variety is good for health of human.

Hyola PAC 401: It is medium heighted crop and ready to mature in 150 days. Seeds are brownish black and contain about 42% oil. It gives average yield of 6.74 qtl/acre.

GSC 6: Recommended for timely sown crop under irrigated conditiom. Seeds are bold and content 39.1% oil content. And gives average yield of 6.07 qtl/acre.  

Indian Mustard

RH 0749: Suitable for growing in Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Jammu and North Rajasthan. It is high yielding variety having more number of seeds per silique. Ready to harvest in 146-148 days. Seeds are bold and having oil percentage of 40%. It give average yield of 10.5-11 qtl/acre.

RH 0406: Suitable for growing in rainfed areas. Ready to harvest in 142-145 days. It give average yield of 8.8 - 9.2 qtl/acre.

T 59 (Varuna): It is suitable under all climatic conditions. Ready to harvest in 145-150 days. Gives oil content about 39%. It gives average yield of 6-8 qtl/acre. 

Private company varieties of Mustard

Pioneer 45S42: High yielding variety having medium maturity. Ready to harvest 125-130 days. Suitable under all soil conditions. Its grains are bold and high pod density. It give average yield is 12.5 qtl per acre.

Pioneer 45S35 : High yielding and early maturing variety.  It give average yield is 12.5 qtl per acre.

Pioneer 45S46 : High yielding and medium duration variety. Its grains are bold with good oil percentage. It give average yield is 12.5 qtl per acre.

Other States Variety

Pusa Agrani: Under irrigated conditions, suitable for early and late sown areas. Ready to harvest in 110 days. Gives average seed yield of 7.2 qtl/acre with oil 40% oil content. 

Pusa Mustard 21: Suitable for timely sown irrigated areas. Gives average yield of 7.2-8.4 qtl/acre.

Pusa Mustard 24: Suitable for timely sown irrigated areas. Gives average yield of 8-10 qtl/acre.

NPJ 112: Suitable for early sown areas. Gives average yield of 6 qtl/acre.

Pusa Mustard 26: Suitable for late sown areas. Ready to harvest in 126 days. Gives average yield of 6.4 qtl/acre.

Pusa Mustard 28: Ready to harvest in 107 days. Productivity is high compared to other variety. Oil contain about 41.5%.

For good germination of crop it required a fine seed bed. Do ploughing of soil for two to three times followed by two harrowing. Do planking after every ploughing. Prepared firm, moist and uniform seed bed as it will help in uniform germination of seed.

Time of sowing
Optimum time for sowing Mustard crop is from September to October month. For toria crop, complete sowing from first fortnight of September to October. For African sarson and Taramira can be sown in whole October month. For Raya crop complete sowing from Mid of October to November End.
When rapeseed-mustard grown as intercrop, time of sowing depend upon cultivation of main crop.  

Spacing
For rapeseed - mustards keep row to row distance of 30 cm while plant to plant distance of 10-15 cm.  For Gobhi sarson use distance of 45 cm in rows and plant to plant 10 cm.

Sowing Depth
Seeds are sown at depth of 4 to 5 cm.

Method of sowing
Use seed drill for sowing purpose.

Seed Rate
When rapeseed - mustards are grown individually then it required seed rate of 1.5 kg seeds per acre. Do thinning operations three week after sowing and maintain only healthy seedlings.

Seed Treatment
To protect seed from soil borne pest and disease, before sowing do seed treatment with Thiram@3gm per kg of seeds.

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Nutrient Requirement (kg/acre)

While preparing field, apply 70 to 120 qtl farm yard manure or well decomposed cow dung in soil. For accurate fertilizer dose, soil testing is necessary. Under irrigated condition for toria crop, apply N:P in ratio of 25:8kg/acre in form of Urea@55kg/acre and Super phosphate@50kg/acre. Apply K dose only when soil show deficiency of it. For raya and gobhi sarson, apply N:P:K in ratio of 40:12:6 kg/acre in form of Urea@90kg, SSP@75kg and MOP@10kg per acre. For rainfed raya crop apply Urea@33kg/acre and Super Phosphate@50kg/acre.
Apply Urea just before pre-sowing irrigation. Under irrigated condition, for toria apply all fertilizer just before sowing and for raya, gobhi sarson, apply half of fertilizer just before sowing and remaining half with first irrigation. For rainfed condition, give all fertilizer just before sowing.

To control weeds take two to three weeding and two hoeing at interval of two weeks when intensity of weeds is low. To control weeds in Toria crop, do pre-plant incorporation of Trifluralin @ 400ml/200Ltrs of water per acre. For raya crop, give pre-emergence spray of Isoproturon @ 400gm/200Ltr within 2 days of sowing. Or take post emergence spray 25-30 days after sowing.

Give pre-sowing irrigation before sowing of seeds. For good growth, crop required in general about three irrigation apply at interval of three weeks after sowing. Apply good amount of organic manures in soil, it will help to conserved moisture in soil.

• Pest and their control:

Aphid: They suck the sap and plant get weak, pale and plant remain stunted and in later stage do not bear pods.

To control, do timely sowing of crop. Avoid excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer. In infestation is observed in field, take spray of any one pesticide like Thiamethoxam@80gm or Quinalphos or Oxydemeton@250ml or Chlorpyriphos @200ml in 100-125Ltr water per acre.

Painted bug: It destroyed crop at germination stage also at maturity stage. They suck sap and leads to drying of crop.

Application of irrigation three to four week after sowing help in reducing pest population. If infestation is observed in field, take spray of Malathion @ 400ml/acre.

Hairy caterpillar: Young larva feed on leaves and destroyed them completely.

If infestation is observed in field, take spray of Malathion 5% dust@15kg/acre or Dichlorvos@200ml/acre in 100-125ltr of water.

• Disease and their control:

Blight: Dark brown spot with dot like bodies developed on stem, branches, leaflet and pods. In severe infestation, withering of stem and pod is observed.

For cultivation use resistant varieties. On incidence of disease spray with Indofil M-45 or Captan @ 260gm/100Ltr of water per acre. If necessary repeat the spray at interval of 15days.

Downy Mildew:  Whitish growth is observed on lower surface of leaves. The leaves give green or yellow coloration appearance.

Destroyed debris of previous crop before sowing of crop. Spray crop with Indofil M-45 @ 400gm in 150 Ltr of water per acre for four times with interval of 15 days.

White Rust: White pustules are observed on leaves, stem and on flower. Swelling of affected part is observed. Because of infection flower become sterile.

If infestation observed in field, to control spray with Metalaxyl 8%+Mancozeb 64% @ 2gm/Ltr of water or spray with Copper oxychloride @ 25gm/Ltr of water. If necessary repeat the spray with interval of 10-15days.

Crop takes 110 to 140 days to mature, depending variety. Harvest crop when pods turn yellow and seed become hard. To avoid shattering loss carried out harvesting in morning hours. With the help of sickle, cut crops close to ground. After then stacked harvested crops for 7-10 days. After proper drying complete threshing operation.

Cleaned seed must be dried in the sun for 4-5days or till the moisture content comes down to 8 percent. After proper drying of seeds, stored seeds in gunny bags or bin.

1.Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana

2.Department of Agriculture

3.Indian Agricultural Research Instittute, New Delhi

4.Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research

5.Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare