RT-346
A popular Rajasthan variety with stable rainfed yield and good oil content.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Sesame (Til)
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Kharif
- Maturity period
- 82–88 days
- Expected yield
- Medium–high
- Suitable soil
- Sandy / light soil
- Disease resistance
- Moderately tolerant to root rot
- Release
- Used in sesame breeding and trial work at Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner, Jaipur, Rajasthan. The release year and developing institute are not published
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
RT-346 is a sesame (til) variety associated with Rajasthan's sesame breeding programmes, referenced as a parent/comparison line in stability and genetic-diversity studies conducted at Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner, Jaipur, Rajasthan. It has been found stable for most agronomic traits across environments in Rajasthan sesame trials.
Should you pick this variety?
Choose RT-346 if you farm rainfed land in Rajasthan and want a variety that holds its yield across different seasons and sites. Trials found it stable for most agronomic traits. It takes 82–88 days. No yield figure is published for it, so do not plan around a number. Choose RT 351 instead if you want a notified variety with a published 5–7 q/ha in 80–85 days and the extra capsules of its multicapsular habit.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeFirst fortnight of July for the kharif crop in Rajasthan (AICRP sesame package)
- Spacing30 x 15 cm, or 45 x 10 cm
- FertilizerOn heavy soil 40:20:0 kg NPK per ha with 250 kg gypsum per ha, and on light soil 40:25:0. Where the package gives no split, put half the nitrogen and all the phosphorus and potash in at sowing and the other half of the nitrogen 30–35 days after sowing, when the soil is moist
Advantages & considerations
Things to consider
- RT-346's release year, parentage, yield and duration figures are not published. It appears in university trial papers (stability and diversity studies) as a long-established reference variety, not in a variety-release sheet. Because there is no yield number, test it against a variety you know before you move your whole field.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Rajasthan
Choosing a variety with no yield number
RT-346 has no published yield or release sheet. What is on record is that trials in Rajasthan found it stable for most traits across different seasons and sites. That is a real reason to grow it, but it is not a yield number.
So build your own. Ask two or three neighbours who have grown it what they harvested in a good year and in a dry one. Then sow a strip of RT-346 beside a strip of RT 351 and weigh both at harvest.
Keep a notebook. Write the sowing date, the rain and the harvest from each strip. After two seasons you will know more about RT-346 on your own land than any page can tell you.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This is an open-pollinated variety, so seed from a healthy crop of your own can be sown again. Keep seed only from disease-free plants, dry it properly, store it cool and dry, and bring in fresh certified seed every three to four years so the variety does not drift.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Sesame (Til) variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT 10 | The black-seeded sesame with proven Phytophthora blight resistance, for Gujarat | 92–95 days | 6–8 q/ha | Gujarat |
| RT 351 | The multicapsular Rajasthan sesame: several capsules per leaf axil, notified for the hot, arid zone | 80–85 days | 5–7 q/ha | Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh |
| RT-346this page | A steady rainfed sesame for Rajasthan, chosen for stability across seasons, not for a published peak yield | 82–88 days | Medium–high | Rajasthan |
| Swetha (TMV-3 type) | A white-seeded sesame for buyers who pay for pale til, with a December sowing pattern from the Tirupati trials | 82–86 days | 750–800 kg/ha (AICRP sesame package) | Andhra Pradesh |
| TC-25 | A white-seeded, early sesame with 50–52% oil, best documented for July sowing in Punjab | 75–82 days; 80–85 for a July sowing in Punjab | Medium | Uttar Pradesh |
| TKG-22 | The long-standing Madhya Pradesh check variety: steady, well understood, with capsules that ripen together | 80–85 days | Medium–high | Madhya Pradesh |
| TMV 7 | The brown, high-oil sesame that fits every Tamil Nadu season: 80–90 days and tolerant to root rot | 80–90 days | 7.4–9.2 q/ha | Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Sesame (Til) is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Sesame (Til) plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Germination CalculatorTest 100 seeds from the bag before sowing and see whether the lot is fit to sow.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Sesame (Til) variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Sesame (Til) into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop CalendarMonth-by-month sowing, weeding, irrigation and harvest dates for Sesame (Til) in your state.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Sesame (Til) rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Sesame (Til) seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
What institute is RT-346 associated with?
Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner, Jaipur, Rajasthan, where it has been used as a reference/comparison line in sesame stability and genetic-diversity studies.
Is RT-346 a stable-yielding variety?
Yes. Academic trial literature found it stable for most agronomic traits across different environments in Rajasthan, which supports its reputation for stable rainfed yield.
Has RT-346 been used to breed other sesame varieties?
It has appeared as a parent or comparison line in academic breeding studies at Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, though the specific offspring varieties were not detailed in the sources.
What is RT-346's exact release year?
It is not published. Only university trial papers mention it, treating it as an already-established reference variety.
What makes RT-346 suited to Rajasthan's growing conditions?
Its documented stability across different environments within Rajasthan, plus its good oil content, make it a dependable choice for the state's rainfed sesame belt.
RT-346 or RT 351: which should I pick in Rajasthan?
RT 351 is the newer one: notified in 2011, with several capsules in each leaf axil and a published 5–7 q/ha in 80–85 days. RT-346 is the older single or alternate-capsule type, valued for being steady. If RT 351 seed is easy to get, it is the better-documented choice.
When is RT-346 ready if I sow in early July?
At 82–88 days, a crop sown in the first week of July is ready in the last week of September or early October. Count from your own sowing date and plan the next crop around that.
Can I save RT-346 seed?
Yes, it is open-pollinated, so seed from your own crop gives the same variety. Take it from the healthiest plants, dry the capsules fully and store the seed dry. Because there is no published yield, keep a note of your own yield each year.
Does RT-346 tolerate root rot?
Moderately. Its rating is moderate tolerance to root rot, which means some help, not safety. In a rainfed field that has had root rot, use treated seed, avoid sowing into waterlogged ground and rotate away from sesame. For a better-documented option in Rajasthan, RT 351 has a formal notification and published field results.
No yield figure is published for RT-346. How do I budget?
Budget from your own past seasons, not from a number. No release year, yield or parentage is published for RT-346, which appears in university trial papers as a long-established reference variety. For a documented yardstick, RT 351 shows 5–7 q/ha in 80–85 days, but that is a different variety, so treat it only as a rough comparison.
Sourced from: Improved Technology for Maximizing Production of Sesame — AICRP on Sesame and Niger, ICAR (Ranganatha and others, revised 2013): Tables 3, 8 and 9 (sowing time, spacing and fertiliser by state). editorial policy.