मोहरी: India's number-one rabi oilseed
Mustard and rapeseed (Brassica juncea, B. napus, B. rapa) — known collectively as rai, sarson, raya, toria — covers roughly 7.1 million hectares producing a record 12.6 million tonnes in 2024-25 (DES Third Advance Estimate), India's largest rabi oilseed crop. Yield averages 17.7 q/ha nationally, climbing to 22-25 q/ha in irrigated Bharatpur-Mathura belt. The 2025-26 MSP is₹6,200/q (PIB 1 Oct 2025, RMS 2026-27), a 4% YoY hike, and India's edible oil import dependency (~57% of demand) has driven the National Mission on Edible Oils-Oilseeds (NMEO-OS, launched October 2024 with ₹10,103 crore allocation) to make mustard the centrepiece of self-sufficiency push.
State-by-state geography
Rajasthan (45%): Bharatpur, Alwar, Sawai Madhopur, Sri Ganganagar. The undisputed mustard capital — irrigated alluvial heart, well-water lift, RH-725 and Pusa Mustard 30 dominant. Yields 22-30 q/ha irrigated. Bharatpur APMC is the national mustard price-discovery centre.
Uttar Pradesh (13%): western UP (Aligarh, Etawah, Mainpuri) and Bundelkhand (Jhansi, Banda). Yields 16-22 q/ha. NRCHB-101 widely adopted in late-sown rice-fallow conditions.
Haryana (11%): Mahendragarh, Bhiwani, Hisar. RH-725 hybrid the workhorse. Yields 20-26 q/ha irrigated.
Madhya Pradesh (10%): Bhind, Morena, Sheopur (Chambal ravines). Giriraj and NRCHB-101 popular. Yields 16-22 q/ha.
West Bengal (6%): Murshidabad, Nadia rapeseed (yellow sarson type) for local oil pressing. Yields 8-12 q/ha rainfed.
Gujarat (4%): Banaskantha, Mahesana irrigated mustard with high oil content (~38-40%).
Variety pipeline — RH series and the DMH-11 controversy
RH-725 (CCS-HAU Hisar, 2017) — Haryana hybrid, 25-28 q/ha potential, white-rust resistant, oil content ~40%. Pusa Mustard 30 (Pusa-30)(ICAR-IARI Pusa, 2014) — early-maturing 135-day line, 22-25 q/ha, broadly adapted.NRCHB-101 (ICAR-DRMR Bharatpur, 2018) — heat-tolerant 130-day, suitable for late-sown rice-fallow. Giriraj (RGN-298) (Maharana Pratap University Udaipur, 2015) — 145-day, Rajasthan rainfed line, 22 q/ha.Varuna (T-59) (1976, still grown) — open-pollinated, lower yield but preferred for local oil quality. The GM-mustard line DMH-11 (Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11) was approved by GEAC in 2022 with 28% yield advantage demonstrated over Varuna in trials, but commercial release has been deferred pending Supreme Court review — a flashpoint in India's GM-crop policy debate.
Sowing window — the yield-defining decision
Mustard sowing is the most yield-sensitive decision: optimum window is October 5-25 across most of the country. Each week of delay past Oct-25 cuts yield 1.5-2 q/ha because flowering shifts to colder December nights with reduced pollination and higher aphid pressure. Late-sown (Nov 10-20) crop in UP/Bihar after paddy harvest yields 30-40% lower than optimum-sown. NRCHB-101 and Pusa-30 are the late-sown tolerant choices. Seed rate 4-6 kg/ha at 30 × 10 cm row × plant spacing. Thinning to single plant per spot at 15-20 DAS is critical for the 30-40 cm dense canopy.
Nutrient management — sulphur is the secret
Mustard NPK 80:40:40 kg/ha. The critical secondary nutrient is sulphur— mustard's oil-content economics depend on sulphur supply. Sulphur 40 kg/ha via gypsum (or 25 kg/ha via SSP) lifts oil content from 36-38% to 40-42% and yield by 10-15%. ICAR-DRMR Bharatpur has demonstrated this in 200+ on-farm trials. Zinc sulphate 25 kg/ha responds in alluvial soils. Boron 1 kg/ha as borax responds in irrigated heavy-yield management. Irrigation: 2-3 irrigations on the 130-145 day crop — at rosette (25-30 DAS), flowering (50-55 DAS) and pod-fill (75-85 DAS). The FAO-56 Kc (0.35 / 1.15 / 0.35) gives seasonal ETc of ~360-400 mm.
Pest and disease management
Mustard aphid (Lipaphis erysimi) is the dominant biotic threat — colonising at flowering through pod-fill, capable of causing 30-70% yield loss in heavy years. ETL is 26 aphids per 10 cm of central inflorescence. Imidacloprid 17.8SL at 0.005% or thiamethoxam 25WG at 0.0125% controls. White rust(Albugo candida) emerges in cool foggy December weather; metalaxyl 8% + mancozeb 64% combination at 0.25% controls. Alternaria leaf blight and Sclerotinia stem rot (the latter requiring crop rotation away from oilseeds for 3 years) round out the disease complex.
Cost of cultivation and the NMEO-Oilseeds push
CACP places mustard C2 cost at ~₹4,200-4,500/q (2022-23 crop year). Against MSP ₹6,200/q, C2 margin is ~35-45%. NAFED PSS active in RJ, MP, HR at MSP. Bharatpur APMC modal prices through March-May typically settle ₹5,500-6,500/q — at or above MSP, with oil-content premium adding ₹200-400/q for ≥40% oil grain. NAFED PSS procurement in 2024-25 reached ~9 LMT — the largest oilseed procurement after groundnut.
A Bharatpur farmer with 2 ha RH-725 irrigated mustard yielding 24 q/ha at ₹6,200/q mandi: gross ₹2,97,600, cash cost ~₹36,000, net cash margin ₹2,61,600 (~₹52,000/acre). Sulphur-fertilised lots fetching the 40%+ oil-content premium can push margins ₹55,000-60,000/acre.
NMEO-Oilseeds and the path forward
India's edible oil import dependency (57% of ~24 MT annual demand) costs $20+ billion annually. The NMEO-OS launched October 2024 allocates ₹10,103 crore over seven years for area expansion, yield improvement and processing infrastructure. Mustard is the centrepiece — the mission targets adding 1.5 million hectares to mustard area by 2030, primarily through rice-fallow expansion in eastern UP, Bihar and West Bengal, and through hybrid (RH-725, DMH-11 if cleared) multiplication. The DMH-11 commercial release decision is the single largest swing factor — a yield gain of 28% across the 7-million-hectare mustard footprint would add ~2.5 MT of oil annually, equivalent to $2-3 billion of import substitution.