Introduction

Rapeseed and mustard are major rabi oilseed crops of India belonging to the family Brassicaceae (Cruciferae). They are the second most important oilseed crops after groundnut in India and play a vital role in edible oil production and nutritional security.

They are widely grown in Indo-Gangetic plains, Rajasthan, MP, UP, Haryana, and West Bengal.

Important Species

• Brassica juncea → Indian mustard (most important)
• Brassica nigra → Black mustard
• Brassica rapa / campestris → Yellow & brown sarson
• Eruca sativa → Taramira
• Brassica napus → Gobhi sarson
• Indian mustard contributes the maximum area and production.

Importance

• Major source of edible oil (30–45%).
• Oilcake rich in protein (35–40%) used as cattle feed.
• Important for crop diversification in rabi season.
• Fits well in rainfed and irrigated systems.
• Provides raw material for soap, lubricants, biodiesel and pharmaceuticals.
• Leaves used as green vegetable (sarson saag).
• Origin: Originated in the Mediterranean region.

Botanical Characteristics

• Crop type → Annual herb
• Root system → Tap root with lateral branches
• Stem → Erect, branched
• Leaves → Alternate, lobed, waxy coating
• Inflorescence → Raceme
• Flower → Yellow, cross-pollinated
• Fruit → Siliqua
• Seed → Small, round, yellow/brown
• Pollination is mostly cross pollinated (20–30%) by insects.

Climate Requirement

• Requires cool growing season and dry weather at maturity.
• High temperature during seed filling reduces oil content.

Soil Requirement

• Best soil → Well-drained loam to clay loam
• pH → 6.0–8.0
• Suitable for light to medium soils
• Avoid waterlogging and saline soils
• Taramira can tolerate poor soils and drought.

Growth Habit Groups

• Toria → Early maturing (short duration)
• Sarson → Medium duration
• Rai / Mustard → Long duration

Varieties

Indian Mustard

• Varuna → Early and widely adapted
• Kranti → High yielding
• Pusa Bold → High oil content
• RH-30 → White rust resistant
• Pusa Agrani → Very early

Rapeseed

• Toria T-9
• Pusa Kalyani
• TS-36

Physiological Traits

• Long day plant
• C3 photosynthetic pathway
• Sensitive to frost during reproductive stage
• High sulphur requirement for oil synthesis

Key Concepts

• Sulphur nutrition directly increases oil content.
• Cool temperature improves seed setting.
• Indian mustard dominates rapeseed-mustard production.

Sowing

• Time of Sowing: October–November (optimum). Early sowing improves yield and reduces aphid infestation.
• Seed Rate: Line sowing → 3–5 kg/ha. Broadcasting → 4–6 kg/ha
• Spacing: Row spacing → 30–45 cm. Plant spacing → 10–15 cm
• Depth: 2–3 cm
• Germination occurs within 3–5 days.

Nutrient Management

• Apply full P, K, S and half N as basal.
• Remaining nitrogen at first irrigation.
• Sulphur improves oil content and seed quality.

Irrigation Management

Critical stages: Flowering, Pod filling

Irrigation schedule

• First irrigation → after sowing
• Second → flowering
• Third → pod development
• Crop is moderately drought tolerant but irrigation improves yield.

Weed Management: Critical period → 20–40 DAS

Methods

• Hand weeding at 20–25 DAS
• Fluchloralin (PPI) @1.0 kg a.i./ha
• Isoproturon (post-emergence)
• Weed competition reduces yield significantly.

• Harvesting: Duration → 120–140 days, Harvest when siliqua turn yellowish brown and seeds hard. Cut plants and dry before threshing. Delay causes shattering losses.
• Yield: Seed yield → 1.2–2.0 t/ha. Oil content → 30–45%
• Economic Importance: Major edible oil source, Oilcake used as cattle feed, Provides good net returns with low input cost

Key Agronomic Insights

• Sulphur nutrition is critical for oil synthesis.
• Early sowing reduces aphid attack.
• Frost at flowering reduces yield.
• Mustard is partially cross-pollinated crop.

Single line Important Points

• Botanical name (Indian mustard) → Brassica juncea
• Chromosome number (B. juncea) → 2n = 36
• Inflorescence → Raceme
• Photosynthetic pathway → C3 plant
• Photoperiod → Long day plant
• Pollination mostly by → Insects (entomophilous)
• Flower color → Yellow
• Seed size → Small and round
• Sowing time → October–November
• Optimum temperature → 10–25°C
• Germination time → 3–5 days
• Crop duration → 120–140 days
• Critical weed competition → 20–40 DAS
• Sulphur deficiency reduces → Oil content
• Oilcake protein → 35–40%
• Major pollinators → Bees
• Most important species → Brassica juncea
• Early group → Toria
• Medium group → Sarson
• Long duration group → Rai (mustard)
• Major producing state → Rajasthan
• Major disease complex → Alternaria blight + white rust
• Aphid peak incidence → Flowering stage
• Seed rate → 3–5 kg/ha
• Ideal soil → Well-drained loam
• Sensitive stage to frost → Flowering
• Harvest index → ~25–30%
• Sulphur requirement high due to → Oil synthesis
• Mixed cropping common with → Wheat or gram
• Crop type → Annual herb
• Fruit shattering occurs if → Harvest delayed
• Major oil quality compound → Erucic acid
• Hybrid mustard developed by → ICAR
• Yellow sarson is → Self compatible
• Brown sarson is → Self incompatible