​Effect of Date of Sowing on Growth, Seed Yield and Economics of Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea) Varieties under Rainfed Conditions

Abstract

Background: Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) is an important rabi crop raised under rainfed areas of Haryana. Optimum time of sowing plays an important role in augmenting the productivity of Indian mustard. There is a need to find out the optimum time of sowing of Indian mustard to overcome the yield gap under present scenario of climatic conditions. Different cultivars may respond differently to different sowing time. The current study aimed to study the effect of date of sowing on growth, seed yield and economics of Indian mustard varieties under rainfed conditions. Methods: In this field experiments were conducted during rabi 2018-19 and 2019-20 at Dryland Agriculture Research Farm, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar. The experiment comprising of 3 dates of sowing (16 October, 23 October and 30 October) and 4 varieties of Indian mustard (RH 30, RH 406, RH 725 and RH 761) was laid out in split plot design with three replications. Result: Crop sown on 23th October produced significantly taller plants over 30th October sowing. However, yield attributes viz., number of siliquae per plant, number of seeds per siliqua and test weight was successively decreased with delayed sowing of the crop. Seed yield was highest (2499 kg/ha) when sown on 16th October as compared to 23th October and 30th October sowing. Highest net returns (₹ 92674/-) and BC ratio (5.23) was recorded in 16th October sowing over other dates of sowing. Among varieties, RH 725 produced significantly higher seed (2583 kg/ha) and stover yield (7415 kg/ha) over RH 30, RH 406 and RH 761. Variety RH 725 also recorded higher net returns of ₹ 95940/- and B:C ratio of 5.38 compared to other varieties.