How to Cultivate Mustard

Mustard, soybean, sesame, linseed, groundnut, sunflower etc. are cultivated in Bangladesh as oil crops. But the farmers of the country cultivate mustard as the main edible oilseed crop. About mustard cultivation is discussed below:

Land selection: Sandy- loam or silt- loam soils are suitable for mustard cultivation. Therefore, well- drained lands having sandy- loam or silt- loam soil should be selected for mustard cultivation.

Selection of variety: There are many mustard varieties that are cultivated. The name of some released mustard varieties are- Tori- 7, Kalyania (TS- 72), Sonali sarisha (SS- 75), Sampad (M- 12), Rye sarisha, BARI sarisha- 8, BARI sarisha- 14, BARI sarisha- 15, BARI sarisha- 16 etc.

Sowing time: Mustard is a winter crop in Bangladesh. Based on the regional difference and �Jo� condition seeds of Tori- 7, Kalyania (TS- 72), Sonali sarisha (SS- 75) and BARI sarisha- 8 can be sown from September (mid Ashwin) to October (mid Kartic). The seeds of BARI sarisha- 14, BARI sarisha- 15, BARI sarisha- 16 can be sown from last week of Ashwin to last week of Kartic.

Land preparation: Depending on the land types, the mustard land should be prepared whenever the �Jo� condition appeared by 4- 5 ploughings followed by laddering so that the soil becomes pulverized. The soil should be made leveled and dusty by breaking soil clods since the mustard seeds are small. Canals, surrounding the land, should be made so as to facilitate irrigation and drainage.

Rate and methods of fertilizer application: 

Based on the difference in variety, soil and soil moisture content compost, urea, TSP, MP, gypsum, zinc sulfate, borax/ boric acid etc. fertilizer should be applied in the mustard following the appropriate rules.

Half amount of urea and all other fertilizers should be mixed well with soil during land preparation. Rest half amount of urea should be applied by top dressing at flowering stage. It is necessary to have appropriate moisture content in soil during fertilizer top dressing.

Seed rate: The mustard varieties Tori- 7, Kalyania (TS- 72), Sonali sarisha (SS- 75) and BARI sarisha- 8 require 8- 10 kg seeds per hectare.

Methods of sowing: Generally mustard seeds are broadcasted. It is difficult to sow seeds uniformly throughout the land since the mustard seeds are small. For that reason, if the seeds are mixed with sand or ash before sowing, the seeds can be sown uniformly throughout the land. Thus there is a minimum possibility of having ununiformed plant population in the mustard field. Mustard seeds can be sown in rows. This facilitates fertilizer application, irrigation, weeding etc. intercultural operations. In this case, distance between rows is kept 25- 30 cm. In each row, seeds are sown maintaining 4- 5 cm distance and 2- 4 cm depth. Seeds are emerged within 2- 3 days if sufficient soil moisture is present.

Cultural operations: The following cultural operations are done in the mustard field:

1. Irrigation: Mustard crop does not require irrigation if moisture content is sufficient. Based on the moisture content, very good yield can be achieved providing 2- 3 irrigation. It is better to provide first irrigation at 20- 25 days after sowing and second irrigation at fruit setting. Land should be prepared providing a light irrigation if the land is dry before sowing. Mustard cannot tolerate water stagnancy. For this reason, it is not ought to allow the irrigation water to create water stagnancy in the mustard field.
2. Thinning: Densely populated seedlings should be thinned out. The seeds should be re- sown where there is no seeds germinate at all. Thinning should be done 10-15 days after seedling emergence.
3. Weed Control: No sooner the weeds are found in the mustard field should be uprooted. Weeds can be controlled during thinning. The lands in which the infestation of Orobunchi is found, it is better not to cultivate mustard for two successive years in that field.
4. Causes of diseases, symptoms and control measures: The most important disease of mustard is the Alternaria blight or leaf spot. At first, brown and thereafter deep colored round spots are found in leaves due to this disease. To protect the crop from this disease, the seeds should be sown following appropriate rules.
5. Control of insects and mites: The main injurious insect of mustard is aphid. The young and adult aphids suck juice from stem, leaf, inflorescence, flower and fruits and thereby plants become week. Flowering and fruit setting are hampered. Fruits become small by shrinking and yield is reduced by 30- 70%. The infestation is the highest in January. To protect from the infestation of aphid, 2 ml Malathion- 57 EC per liter of water should be sprayed in the mustard field with help of sprayer.

Harvesting of crop: Proper harvesting time of mustard is determined when 70- 80% pods of the mustard plants becoming straw color and leaves becoming yellow. It is better to harvest mustard crop at morning in presence of due. The crop can be harvested by uprooting or by cutting with sickle. But uprooting is better.

Threshing of crop:  After harvesting, threshing should be done by drying mustard plants in the sun for 3- 4 days. There may be some unfilled seeds. These unfilled seeds should be separated.

Drying and preserving of seeds: After threshing, seeds are cleaned by winnowing. Thereafter the seeds are dried well in the sun and then preserved in the dry pots. The preserved seeds should frequently be dried and preserved. The sun- dried seeds, if preserved at warm condition, deteriorated germination capacity. For this reason, the sun- dried seeds should be cooled and thereafter be preserved in plastic pots, tins or drums so that the air cannot enter into the pots.

Yield: The average yield of mustard in Bangladesh is 810 kg per hectare.