RGN-48 - A high yielding Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. and Coss.] variety for frost and drought tolerance

Abstract

Rapeseed-mustard (Brassica spp.) is the second important oilseed crop of the country after groundnut and plays a significant role in the oil economy of which Indian mustard [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern. and Coss.] is dominating. Unfortunately, in spite of having a large number of high yielding (2.0-2.5 tlha) varieties, our national average is very low (about 1.0 tlha) as compared to the rapeseed growing countries of the West (UK about 4.0 tlha, France 3.0 tlha, World average 1.5 t/ha (Source FAO Database) [2]. The North Western Plain Zone (NWPZ) comprising of the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, UP and Delhi is the most potential area where Indian mustard is being grown extensively. Among them, Rajasthan is the leading state with nearly 40 per cent of the total area of rapeseed mustard. Mustard is grown on conserved moisture in major area and the crop faces moisture stress. Moreover, in NWPZ, the temperature goes very low (near zero) in the month of January, which leads to high damage in the form of poor seed filling or seed rapture in the pods and this damage is more in the rainfed areas. As far as drought tolerant varieties are concerned, some good varieties like RH-819 and RN-393 have been developed for this zone but the varieties tolerant to frost are the need of hour for which systematic efforts were initiated. As a result of concentred efforts made in this direction, RGN-48, a high yielding mustard variety having trost and drought tolerance has been released and notified by the Central Sub-Committee on Crop Standards, Notification and Release of Varieties (CVRC) for Agricultural Crops of Govt. of India.