S. S. Rathore

Advances in Agronomic Management of Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) Czernj. Cosson): An Overview

India is the fourth largest oilseed economy in the world. Among the seven edible oilseeds cultivated in India, rapeseed-mustard contributes 28.6% in the total oilseeds production and ranks second after groundnut sharing 27.8% in the India’s oilseed economy. The mustard growing areas in India are experiencing the vast diversity in the agro climatic conditions and different species of rapeseed-mustard are grown in some or other part of the country. Under marginal resource situation, cultivation of rapeseed-mustard becomes less remunerative to the farmers. This results in a big gap between requirement and production of mustard in India. Therefore site-specific nutrient management through soil-test recommendation based should be adopted to improve upon the existing yield levels obtained at farmers field. Effective management of natural resources, integrated approach to plant-water, nutrient and pest management and extension of rapeseed-mustard cultivation to newer areas under different cropping systems will play a key role in further increasing and stabilizing the productivity and production of rapeseed-mustard. The paper reviews the advances in proper land and seedbed preparation, optimum seed and sowing, planting technique, crop geometry, plant canopy, appropriate cropping system, integrated nutrient management and so forth to meet the ever growing demand of oil in the country and to realize the goal of production of 24 million tonnes of oilseed by 2020 AD through these advanced management techniques.

Phytoremediation Mechanism in Indian Mustard ( Brassica juncea ) and Its Enhancement Through Agronomic Interventions

The increasing heavy metal pollution in the agro-ecosystem has become a serious concern worldwide. These metals do not decay in the nature and become toxic to the plants, animals and human beings when exceed specific thresholds. Anthropogenic input of heavy metals in agricultural land includes industrial and agricultural disposal, waste incineration and urban effluent of wastewater. Phytoremediation, by using metal-accumulating plants like Brassica sp., including Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) for toxic metal removal from soil has been proposed as a possible solution to this problem. Phytoremediation is a cost effective and nondestructive, but the challenges in the fast extraction of heavy metals by Indian mustard include initial slow growth, ability to extract some particular metal only, poor bioavailability of heavy metals in soils and non-compartmentalization within plant parts. Addition of organic matter, organic chelates, soil amendments, adoption of suitable cropping systems, intercrops and fertilizer selection can enhance the phytoremediation capacity of Indian mustard. Growing Indian mustard with these agronomic interventions can augment the ability to absorb, uptake and concentrate heavy metal under contaminating soils.