Grow canola quality sarson varieties for higher returns

摘要

Enhancing farm income requires cultivation of highly productive crop varieties with superior end product quality. Cultivation of canola quality gobhi sarson and raya varieties can contribute significantly in enhancing the income of the farmers. The oilseed breeders of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) have developed several canola quality varieties of rapeseed-mustard under the leadership of National Professor Dr S S Banga. These include GSC 6 and GSC 7 of gobhi sarson and RLC 3 of raya. These varieties meet all the international standards of canola varieties (Table 1) and are well adapted to Indian conditions. Of these, GSC 7 is an ideal blend of highproductivity (average yield 9.0 q/acre) and quality, and has shown seed yield potential of 12-13 q/acre under irrigated conditions. Another canola variety GSC 6 yields lower (6.1 q/acre) than GSC 7 but matures about 9-10 days earlier than GSC 7 (154 days) and about two weeks earlier than non-canola gobhi sarson variety GSL 1 (Table 2) and thus, vacates the field early for sowing of summer moong or spring sugarcane. The University has also developed canola quality raya variety RLC 3, which is yellow seeded and the colour of oil of this variety is more attractive. All these varieties of gobhi sarson and raya are resistant to white rust and thus, save the cost incurred and efforts required otherwise to control this disease. Varieties GSC 6 and RLC 3 are better suited for rice/maize-canola gobhi sarso/7-summer moong cropping system. The inclusion of summer moong in cropping system improves soil fertility besides increasing farm income. In case of intercropping with poplar or sugarcane, prefer gobhi sarsonvariety GSC 6 or raya variety RLC 3 as these mature earlier than GSC 7. This will facilitate early irrigation to the main crop (poplar or sugarcane), which otherwise suffers from moisture stress caused by high evaporation due to increasing temperaturesat the end of March/early April.