Mustard is an important rabi oilseed crop grown in temperate regions. It has a seed rate of 4-6 kg/ha and a spacing of 40x10 cm. Under rainfed conditions, it requires 60:40:20 kg/ha of NPK nutrients, while under irrigation 80:40:20 kg/ha of NPK is recommended. Mustard requires 200-300 mm of irrigation, applied in two stages. With proper agronomic management, the average yield of mustard is 400 kg/ha.

1. AGRO- TECHNIQUES OF
MUSTARD
EZHILMATHI. S
2015006015
AGR 203
AGRONOMY OF FIELD CROPS -I (1+1)

2. INTRODUCTION
Scientific name : Brassica sp.
Family : Brassicaceae
Origin : China or Middle East and India - B. juncea
Central and southern Europe - B. nigra
B. nigra * B. oleracea = B. carinata

3. Taxonomic name Common name Hindi name Usage Chromosome
number
Brassica juncea Indian/ brown
mustard
Rai, raya, laha Oilseed 2n= 36
Brassica nigra Black mustard Banarsi rai Condiment
(more pungent)
2n= 16
Brassica alba
syn.
Sinapsis alba
White/ yellow
mustard
(larger seed) 2n= 24
Brassica
tournefortii
Wild mustard Jungli rai Oilseed 2n= 20
Brassica carinata Ethiopian
mustard
Karan rai Oilseed 2n= 34

5. PLANT MORPHOLOGY
 Self pollinated crop except B. nigra
 The plant has a tap root system which can grow very deep in soil particularly in
sandy soils
 Stem is tall, erect and succulent with leaves attached to it
 In B. juncea the leaf blade does not reach the stem
 The leaf blades are succulent with a thick succulent mid rib
 Inflorescence has a long pedicel with a number of golden yellow colored flowers
on it
 Special kind of fruit known as siliqua that is made up of 2 carpels, separated by a
false septum

6. COMPOSITION
 Sterols- brassicasterol, campesterol, siltosterol, avenasterol, and stigmasterol
 Glucosinolate and fatty acids- sinirgin, myrosin, erucic, eicosanoic, oleic,
and palmitic acids
 Flavonoid and carotenoid antioxidants- carotenes, zeeaxanthin, and lutein
 The aroma and pungent flavor of mustards come from the essential oil,
sinalbin, that releases isothiocyanate chemicals upon enzymatic reaction
mediated by myrosinase enzyme
 An excellent source of essential B- complex vitamins and vitamin- E

7. USES
• Whole seeds, ground or powdered form, prepared pastes, sauces and oil are all
used in the kitchen
• 508 calories/ 100 g of seeds
• Mustard oil used to relieve muscle pain, rheumatism and arthritic pain and also
applied to the scalp so as to stimulate hair growth
• Its ground seeds act as a laxative, stimulant to the gastric mucosa and increase
intestinal secretion
• Large quantity of mustard may cause gastric irritation, bleeding from the stomach
and intestinal mucosa
• Erucic acid in mustard found to have possible genotoxic and carcinogenic effects

8. AREA AND PRODUCTION
In India mustard grown in around 5.77
million ha with a production of 6.6 million
tonnes (as per USDA estimates of 2009-10)

9. VARIETIES
Laha 101- variety of mustard with tall stature was released in1947
Shekar, Vaibhava ( RK 1418), Vardan ( RK 1467), Rohini (KRV 24),
Kranti ( PR 15), Pusa Bold, Prakash, RH 30, Bhagirathi ( RW 351) and
Seeta (B 85) of mustard werereleased up to 1986
GM 1, GM 2, Laxmi, Narendra raj, Pusa Jaikisan, Agrni (SEJ2),
Jagannath (VSL 5), Pusa Bahar, Pusa Barani, PBR 91, PBR 27, Rajat,
RCC 4, RH 819, RH 8113, RLM 1359, Samjukta, Asesh, Sarma, TM 2,
TM 4 are the varieties released after1986
Improved varieties are Kudrat Vandana, Kudrat Gita, Kudrat Soni
CORAL 432- hybrid mustard

10. CLIMATE
 It is the crop of temperate climate that can be grown in North and Eastern
parts of India at the latitude of 20’ N
 Annual rainfall of 250- 400 mm
 Optimum temperature for growth and development ranges between 20
and 350 C but the crop can be grown between temperatures of 3-400 C
 The temperature between 12 and 220 C improves fruit set and seed
formation
 The cloudy sky and humidity of more than 80% attract aphids and diseases
 The crop is more susceptible to frost at pod development stage
 The severity of frost can cause seed yield loss to 70%

11. SOIL
 Mustard can be grown under a wide range of soil conditions
varying from fairly heavy clay to light sandy soil
 They grow best on light loam soil
 Soil with good drainage as mustard cannot withstand water-
logging
 But more tolerant to acidity and alkalinity
 More than 23- 25 ESP in soils delays germination, emergence of
flower and pods and enhances maturity in mustard

12. LAND PREPARATION
 As the seeds are small for good germination and stand a
fine tilth is required
 Cloddy fields lose the stored soil moisture rapidly and clods
also provide shelter to painted bug and saw fly
 3- 4 ploughings or harrowings followed by planking give
a fine tilth
 Deep ploughing in summer helps in soil moisture
conservation

13. DATE OF SOWING
 Predominant sowing time is mid September to end of October
 Mustard is primarily rain fed or dry land crops
 In the north Indian plains sowing done in mid October, when the
mean temperature is 24- 260 C
 Late- formed flowers develop pods with fewer, lighter seeds with
low oil content and affect final seed yield
 Late- sown crop is more vulnerable to pest infestation, especially
white rust and aphids

14. PLANT POPULATION AND SPACING
Preferred plant population is 2.2- 3 lakh
plants/ ha or 25- 30 plants/ m2. But it becomes
problem since the crops are sensitive to weather
variations. Spacing of 30 cm * 22 cm in Bihar and
45 cm * 10 cm in UP, MP, Gujarat, Delhi and Punjab.
Sown in the seed rate of 4 to 6 kg/ ha.

15. SEED TREATMENT
 Sees are treated with Bavistin @ 2 g/ kg of seed before sowing to
protect the crop from root rot and Sclerotinia disease
 To ensure good germination and early seedling vigor, seeds should
preferably be soaked in water for 4 hours and dried under shade
before sowing
 Seeds could be mixed with moist soil and kept overnight and sown
along with soil
 Mustard sown in paired rows 15 cm apart, and channels provided
in between the pairs of rows

16. FERTILIZER APPLICATION
 Mustard is a heavy feeder and needs 60 kg N, 40 kg P, 20 kg K and
Sulphur nearly twice that of P/ ha under rain fed conditions
 Under irrigated condition 80: 40: 20 kg N-P2O5-K2O/ ha is recommended
 More Sulphur is required by oilseed in Indian conditions because they
contain glucosinolates
 Saving of 20- 40 kg N/ ha could be made by growing mungbean ( Vigna
radiata ) during summer, taking one picking and incorporating the
legume residue
 Zn 10 kg/ ha and B 2 kg/ ha with 20 kg S/ ha given improved yield

17. TIME AND METHOD
Under dry land conditions all fertilizers is
applied in furrows, 4- 5cm below the seed, at
sowing
 Under irrigated condition, half of N dose and
all P and K are applied as basal and the
remaining half dose of N is top dressed at first
irrigation

18. WEED CONTROL
 Mustard fields should be kept weed- free for the first 45-
60 days as the yield loss due to weeds could vary from 20
to 70%
 One hand weeding 25 DAS under rain fed conditions and
2 hand weedings 25 and 45 DAS in irrigated crops are
sufficient
 Pre- emergence Fluchloralin @ 1.25 kg/ ha and post-
emergence Isoproturon at 0.75 kg/ ha 25 DAS applications
are recommended

19. IRRIGATION
Consumptive use of water in mustard varies
from 200 to 300 mm
In mustard 2 irrigations are recommended, the
first at rosette stage (20- 30 DAS) and the second
at the siliqua formation stage (50- 60 DAS)
Best results are obtained when irrigation is
applied when IE: CPE is 0.6

20. MOISTURE CONSERVATION
Mulches (rice straw) for conserving soil
moisture and anti- transpirants (Kaolin) for
reducing moisture loss from mustard plants.
CROPPING SYSTEMS
Wheat+ mustard 9:1 in all mustard growing areas
Chickpea+ mustard 3:1 in UP, Haryana, Rajasthan
Potato+ mustard 3:1 in UP
Sugarcane+ mustard 1:1 UP, Haryana, Rajasthan

21. DISEASES
 Alternaria blight ( Alternaria brassicae)
 White rust ( Albugo candida)
 Downy mildew ( Perenospora parasitica)
 Sclerotinia rot
 Powdery mildew ( Erysiphe cruciferarum)
 Club root ( Plasmodiphora brassicae)
 Bacterial rot ( Xanthomonas campestris Pv. campestris)

22. HARVESTING AND THRESHING
 The highest oil content 41.78% in mustard is attained in 67 days after
flowering at yellow pod stage
 Yield estimated to be 400 kg / ha
 Delayed harvest may results in loss in oil content and also leads to seed
shedding
 Harvesting should be done in the morning hours to avoid shattering
 The harvested crop should be left to dry in the sun for 3- 4 days on the
threshing floor
 Threshing can be done manually or using a tractor or bullocks
 Seeds should be separated, cleaned, and sun- dried for 3- 4 days so that
the moisture cont comes down to 8%

23. SUMMARY
• Important rabi oil seed crop
• Temperate crop
• Seed rate- 4 to 6 kg/ ha
• Spacing- 40* 10 cm
• Nutrient under rainfed 60: 40: 20 kg NPK/ ha
• Nutrient under irrigated 80: 40: 20 kg NPK/ha
• Irrigation- 200 to 300 mm
• Yield- 400 kg/ ha

24. REFERENCES
Textbook of Field Crops Production/ 2002/
Rajendra Prasad/ Directorate of Information
and Publication of Agriculture, ICAR
www.nutrition-and-you.com
www.advantaindia.com