Neelam

Neelam is a linseed variety carried in Indian state recommendations mainly for its disease package: it is listed as resistant to both rust (Melampsora lini) and linseed wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lini), the two diseases that most often limit the crop in central and eastern India. It matures in roughly 120–135 days with a seed oil content in the usual Indian range. This record does not restate a specific release centre or year for Neelam, because those details vary between sources and could not be pinned to a single primary reference — so it is presented as a disease-resistant variety in cultivation rather than with a precise release history. On rust- and wilt-prone land, Neelam's value is that resistance; confirm current availability and the up-to-date disease rating with your local KVK before planting at scale.

Plant typeOpen-pollinated
Maturity120–135 days
Yield potentialMedium to high in its recommendation tracts; seed oil about 40–43%
Disease resistanceResistant to rust and wilt
SoilClay / black soil
SeasonRabi

• Sowing timeMid-October to mid-November as a line crop, earlier where possible to reduce rust and bud-fly exposure
• Seed rate25–30 kg/ha (10–12 kg/acre) for line sowing; 35–40 kg/ha for broadcast and rice-fallow sowing
• FertilizerRainfed: about 30–40 kg N and 20 kg P2O5 per hectare, all basal. Irrigated: up to 60:40:20 kg N:P:K/ha, half the N basal and half at branching
• HarvestingHarvest at about 120–135 days when the capsules are brown and dry but still closed; cure in a stack, then thresh gently.

Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.

• Madhya Pradesh
• Uttar Pradesh

• T-397

  The old national check variety, released around 1960 — a small brown-seeded, spreading type still grown across Bundelkhand, Bihar, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for its wide adaptation and tolerance to rust, wilt and drought.

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• Shekhar (KL-223)

  A high-yielding variety from CSAUAT, Kanpur, widely grown in Uttar Pradesh — including in black-gram–linseed and rice-fallow systems — and moderately resistant to rust and Alternaria blight.

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• JLS 9

  A JNKVV, Jabalpur release for Madhya Pradesh, grown as a rainfed and utera crop across the state; a medium-duration line with moderate wilt and rust tolerance. Exact yield and oil figures are not independently confirmed for this record.

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• JLS 73

  A newer Jabalpur (RARS Sagar) line developed under the AICRP on Linseed, noted for a very high alpha-linolenic (omega-3) fraction in its oil — of interest where the crop is grown for the health-food market rather than only for total oil.

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• RLC 153

  An IGKV, Raipur release for Chhattisgarh, bred for the state's rice-fallow and utera situations. Treat its exact duration, yield and disease figures as not independently confirmed for this record — its fit is the eastern relay system it was developed for.

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• Kiran

  A variety carried in recommendations for rainfed situations, with a bolder seed than T-397. Treat the specific release centre, year and yield as not independently confirmed for this record.

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