Mustard

15 October to 15 November for irrigated conditions across most of northern and central India. Where sowing depends on rainfed or residual moisture, sowing end-September to early October is better — later sowing costs both yield and the crop’s natural frost tolerance at flowering.

Roughly 1.6–2 kg per acre (4–5 kg/ha) for broadcasting, or 1.2–1.6 kg per acre (3–4 kg/ha) for line sowing with a seed drill, which uses seed more efficiently and gives an easier stand to thin.

Usually just 1–2 — far less than wheat. If only one irrigation is possible, give it at the branching stage (25–30 days after sowing); a second, at siliqua (pod) formation around 60–70 days, adds seed weight and oil content where water allows.

A common recommendation for irrigated mustard is 80:40:40 kg/ha of N:P:K, with about half the nitrogen and the full phosphorus, potash and sulphur (roughly 40 kg/ha S, often as gypsum) applied at sowing, and the rest of the nitrogen top-dressed at the first irrigation. Sulphur is the nutrient most Indian mustard fields are actually short of — a soil test is worth doing before assuming nitrogen is the gap.

Most likely white rust — white, shiny pustules on the underside of leaves, sometimes swelling the growing tip into a distorted “staghead”. It spreads fastest in cool, humid weather from December to February. See the Diseases section above for treatment.

₹6,200 per quintal for RMS 2026–27, as notified by the Government of India. Mustard is one of the few crops where the mandi rate has run above MSP in several recent good years, so it is worth checking the live mandi price before committing to a government procurement centre.

Check the inflorescence and tender shoots from mid-January onward for small yellowish-green to greyish-green insects clustering densely. It is the single most damaging pest of the crop — spraying as soon as colonies appear on half the field, rather than waiting, is what actually protects yield.

15–22 quintals per hectare for an irrigated crop under normal management; over 22 q/ha is achievable with a hybrid variety, timely sowing and no major aphid outbreak. A rainfed or late-sown crop yields meaningfully less.

When 75–80% of pods turn yellowish-brown and seeds rattle inside — usually 110–140 days after sowing. Mustard pods shatter easily once fully ripe, so cutting is timed for early morning when dew softens the shattering loss; waiting too long past the ripe stage can lose a real share of the crop on the ground before it is even threshed.

Dry the seed to below 8% moisture — drier than the threshold for wheat or rice — before bagging, because the oil content makes damp mustard seed go rancid and mouldy far faster than cereal grain. Store in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place away from direct sun.

PM-KISAN is not crop-specific — any landholding farmer family meeting the scheme’s land-record and eligibility criteria qualifies, mustard or otherwise. See the Related schemes section below.

Yes, under PMFBY (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana). Mustard is a rabi crop, so the farmer’s premium is capped at 1.5% of the sum insured, the same as wheat. Enrolment is seasonal — check your state’s cut-off date before sowing is complete.

Because mustard is sown thicker than its final stand needs, to guarantee an even germination from a small seed. Thinning at 15–20 days after sowing down to 10–15 cm plant-to-plant spacing isn’t optional — a crowded, unthinned stand competes for light and produces more plants with fewer pods each, not more total pods.

No — it is one of the lowest water-demand major crops grown in India, needing just 1–2 irrigations against wheat’s 4–6, because it is grown through the cooler, lower-evaporation months on residual monsoon moisture. This is exactly why it is the default rabi choice where irrigation is limited.

Mustard stalks are coarse and not particularly good fodder, so most farmers use them as fuel or work them back into the soil as mulch after chopping — either is more useful than burning, which is restricted in several states and wastes the nutrients the crop pulled from the soil.

The NRCHB 101 hybrid tops out highest on assured-input irrigated fields, at 22–26 q/ha, with RH 749 close behind. On rainfed or moderate-input fields, an older, stable variety like Varuna often performs better in practice, even with a lower ceiling on paper.

Roughly 1.6–2 kg per acre for broadcasting or 1.2–1.6 kg per acre for line sowing — well under a single standard bag, since most dealers sell mustard seed in 1 kg packs rather than the larger bags used for cereal seed.

Yes — sowing a border row or a strip of mustard around or within a wheat field is common across northern India, since mustard aphid tends to leave wheat alone and mustard needs less water than wheat does. Plan the fertilizer needs of both crops separately rather than defaulting to the mustard-only recommendations on this page.

Empty or poorly filled pods are often linked to boron deficiency at flowering (common on light soils), or to a severe frost or moisture-stress spell right at flowering that disrupts pollination. A 0.2% borax foliar spray at flowering on light, deficiency-prone soil corrects the most common cause.

Metalaxyl + mancozeb, or a similar combination fungicide, sprayed at the first sign of pustules. Choosing a variety with current white rust tolerance for your zone and avoiding excess nitrogen both reduce how often you need to reach for it.

Yes, especially in the rainfed tracts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh — it is one of India’s most drought-tolerant major rabi crops, grown entirely on residual monsoon moisture. Yield is meaningfully lower than an irrigated crop, but varieties like Varuna are specifically valued for staying reliable under exactly this condition.

This is almost always a boron deficiency sign, most common on light soils — the same shortage that causes poor pod set, so the two symptoms often show up together. A 0.2% borax foliar spray at flowering corrects both at once.