Mustard Farming: Popular Varieties, Land Preparation, Sowing, Weed Control, Irrigation, Harvesting & Post-Harvesting

India is the fourth largest contributor of oilseeds in the world and Rapeseed and mustard contributes about 28.6% in total oilseeds production. After soybean and palm oil, it is the third important oilseed in the 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.

Indian mustard, brown and yellow sarson, raya and toria crops are included in mustard rapeseed groups. These are grown mainly in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, UP, Haryana and Gujarat & in some areas of south like Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Yellow sarson is considered as Rabi crop in Assam, Bihar, Orissa and West Bengal whereas in Punjab, Haryana, UP and Himachal Pradesh it is a catch crop. Earlier brown sarson was cultivated in most of the areas but now its area under cultivation is getting decreased 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.

Mustard Cultivation

Soil Requirement

• 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.

Popular Mustard 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.

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%.

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.

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 condition.
• Seeds are bold and content 39.1% oil content.
• It gives average yield of 6.07 qtl/acre.

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.

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.

Land Preparation

• Fine seed beds are required for good germination of crop.

• Ploughing of soil should be done for two to three times followed by two harrowing.

• Planking should be done after every ploughing.

• Prepared firm, moist and uniform seed bed as it will help in uniform germination of seed.

Sowing

• Time for sowing Mustard crop is from September to October month.

• For toria crop, 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.

Spacing

• For rapeseed :- Row to Row distance of 30 cm and plant to plant distance of 10-15 cm.

• For Gobhi sarson :- Row to Row distance of 45 cm and plant to plant distance of 10 cm.

Depth

• Depth should be kept at 4 to 5 cm.

Method of sowing

• Use seed drill

Seed Rate

• Rapeseed :- seed rate of 1.5 kg seeds per acre.

• Thinning operations must be done three week after sowing and maintain only healthy seedlings.

Seed Treatment

• Before sowing do seed treatment with Thiram at 3gm per kg of seeds.

Fertilizer Requirement (kg/acre)

Crop      UREA     SSP         MURIATE OF POTASH

Toria      55           50           On soil test results

Raya and Gobhi Sarson 90           75           10

 Nutrient Requirement (kg/acre)

Crop      NITROGEN          PHOSPHORUS   POTASH

Toria      25           8              On soil test results

Raya and Gobhi Sarson 40           12           6

 While preparing field,

• Apply 70 to 100 qtl farm yard manure or well decomposed cow dung in soil.

• For accurate fertilizer dose, soil testing is necessary.

• For toria crop, apply Nitrogen : Phosphorus in ratio of 25:8 kg/acre in form of Urea at 55kg/acre and Super phosphate at 50kg/acre.

• Apply Potash 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 at 90kg, SSP at 75kg and MOP at 10kg per acre.

• For rainfed raya crop apply Urea at 33kg/acre and Super Phosphate at 50kg/acre.

• Apply Urea just before pre-sowing irrigation.

Weed Control in Mustard

• Weed control in Toria crop, do pre-plant incorporation of Trifluralin at 400ml/200Ltrs of water per acre.

• For raya crop, give pre-emergence spray of Isoproturon at 400gm/200Ltr within 2 days of sowing.

Irrigation

• Pre-sowing irrigation should be done before sowing of seeds.

• For getting good growth, crop required in general about three irrigation apply at interval of three weeks after sowing.

• Good amount of organic manures should be applied in the soil, it will help to conserved moisture in soil.

Harvesting

• Depending variety crop takes 110 to 140 days to mature.

• When you see pods turn yellow and seed become hard then harvest crop.

• Carry out harvesting in morning hours to avoid shattering loss .

• Cut crops close to ground with the help of sickle.

• Stacked the harvested crops for 7-10 days.

• Complete threshing operation after proper drying .

Post-Harvest

• Seed should be Cleaned and then it must be dried in the sun for 4-5days.

• When the seed gets dried properly then stored seeds in gunny bags or bin.