Mustard

Scientific name: Brassica spp.

Family : Cruciferae

Variety:
Tori-7, Rai-5, Kalyania (TS-72), Sonali Sarisha (SS-75), Sampad, Daulat (RS-81),
BARI Sarisha-6(Dholi), BARI Sarisha-7, BARI Sarisha-8, BADC Sarisha-1

Mustard and rape are the oil crops and the oil content of seeds varies from 37 to 49% and
around 40% protein in the oilcake. They are the crops of tropical as well as temperate
zones and require somewhat cool and dry weather.

Land suitability: The Brassica seeds are very long lived and can retain their viability for
long time in the soil. So, great care is needed to ensure that the volunteer plants do not
grow in the field of seed crop which may contaminate the harvested seed and may cause
further damage by cross-pollinating the seed crop. It is recommended to keep a gap
period of 5 years for earlier generation and 3 years for the final generation.

The land where a seed crop of mustard is to be produced must not have the other varieties
of the same crop in the previous season. In extreme cases, however, the previous crop
may be of the same certified variety. The land should be free from noxious weeds and
volunteer plants. The land should be of loamy soil of moderate fertility level and well
drained having pH value around 7.

Land preparation: The land is prepared by ploughing, cross ploughing and laddering 3-
4 times followed by laveling to bring the plot to a desired tilth.

Selection of seeds: The certified seeds should be collected from the Seed Certification
Agency or from the organization approved by the National Seed Board.

Method of sowing:
The seeds are to be sown in lines maintaining row to row spacing of 30-40cm and
plant to plant spacing of 5-7cm at a depth of 1.5-2.0cm.

Sowing time: From 15 Oct. to 1st week of Nov. but as late sowing up to 30 Nov.
Seed rate: The seed rate ranges from 8 to 10 kg/ha (depend on variety).
Fertilization: Mustard requires the following dose of fertilizers (kg/ha):
Fertilizer Sonali Sarisha, BARI sarisha-6 Tori-7, Kalyania,
BARI sarisha-7, BARI sarisha-8 Rai-5, Daulat
Urea 250-300 200-250
TSP 170-180 150-170
MoP 85-100 70-85
Gypsum 150-180 120-150
ZnSO4 5-7 4-5
Borax/Boric acid 10-15 10-15

Half of urea and full amounts of other fertilizers are to be applied as basal dose at the
time of final land preparation and the rest half of urea is top dressed 30 days after sowing.
Half of urea and full amounts of other fertilizers are to be applied as basal dose at the
time of final land preparation and the rest half of urea is top dressed 30 days after sowing.

Weeding: Usually two weedings are needed on 15 and 30n days after sowing. Special
attention is given to control Orobanche, a root parasitic weed wherever noticed in the
field.

Irrigation: Mustard and rapeseed are highly responsive to irrigation. If the land is too dry
one presowing irrigation and another at the flowering stage 30 days after sowing are
needed to obtain a desired seed yield.

Roughing: All off-type plants and volunteer plants are to be removed from
flowering upto maturity of the crop.

Supplementary pollination: Honey bees have been known to be a good pollinating

agent that helps to increase the seed yield. It is highly desirable to place a few hives
in the seed crop field at intervals during the time of flowering.

Plant protection: Usually early sown mustard/rapeseed is seriously attacked by aphids

which can be controlled by spraying metasystock 25EC@lL/ha or dimicron
100EC@250-300ml in 1000 L water/ha. Cutworms by heptachlor or aldrin 5% dust @
25kg/ha and Alternaria blight by spraying dithane Z-78 or dithane M-45@ 2 kg/ha in
1000 L water.

Harvesting and threshing: Mustard/rapeseeds are harvested in the morning by uprooting

or by cutting at the base when the plants start turning light yellow and at this stage the
seeds in the siliqua turn light brown. The harvested plants are brought to the threshing
floor and spread in the sun for 2-3 days for drying. After drying threshing is done by
bullocks or flailed with sticks or by beating the plants against drum or wood plank.

Drying and storing: The seeds are cleaned by winnowing and dried in the sun or the hot
air circulating chamber to reduce the moisture content upto 8% for medium term storage,
7% for longer time and less than 5% for long term storage. The dried seeds are cooled to
room temperature and stored in the air light container or polythene bags.
Yield: The yield varies widely with varieties
Daulat: 1250-1450 kg/ha
Tori-7: 950-1100 kg/ha,
Sonali Sarisha (SS-75): 1800-7200kg/ha
BARI Sarisha-6: 1900-2200 kg/ha
BARI Sarisha-7 & BARI Sarisha-8: 2000-2500 kg/ha.