RT 351
From the AICRP Sesame centre at Mandor, Agriculture University, Jodhpur — bred for the short, dry kharif window between wheat and the next rabi sowing.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Sesame (Til)
- Type
- Open-pollinated
- Season
- Kharif
- Maturity period
- 80–85 days
- Expected yield
- 5–7 q/ha
- Suitable soil
- Sandy / light soil
- Release
- Notified 25 March 2011 (S.O. 632(E)) for National Zone-I — Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, western Uttar Pradesh, with adjoining Maharashtra/Karnataka; developed by AICRP Sesame, Mandor centre, Agriculture University, Jodhpur
About this variety
RT 351 was developed by the pedigree method from a cross between NIC-8409 and RT-127 under the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP) on Sesame at the Mandor research centre, Agriculture University, Jodhpur. It was officially notified for commercial cultivation via S.O. 632(E) dated 25 March 2011, for National Zone-I: the hot, arid ecosystem of Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and western Uttar Pradesh, with adjoining tracts of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Its defining trait is a multicapsular arrangement — several seed capsules per leaf axil — a step up from the Mandor centre's earlier single/alternate-capsule releases RT 46 (1990), RT 127 (1999) and RT 346, and the reason it took hold quickly with farmers working the short Rajasthan kharif window.
Key characteristics
Yield & maturity
Maturity period
80–85 days
Expected yield
5–7 q/ha
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
Pest & disease considerations
Major diseases
- Reported (via multiple independently-corroborating web sources, no directly fetched primary) to carry resistance to Macrophomina (charcoal rot), leaf curl and phyllody, with moderate resistance to Cercospora leaf spot and capsule borer — broader than this record's existing "moderate phyllody tolerance" framing
- A directly fetched Krishi Vigyan Kendra front-line-demonstration study (2016–2020, 26 districts of Rajasthan) records farmers specifically valuing its resistance to stem and root rot alongside its higher capsule count
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- Multicapsular bearing (several capsules per leaf axil instead of the 1–2 of earlier Mandor releases like RT 127) gives more seed-bearing sites per plant
- A cluster front-line demonstration across 26 Rajasthan districts (2016–2020) recorded a 36.17% yield advantage over farmers' existing practice, with a modest 1.35 q/ha extension gap — meaning most of the potential is already reachable with better seed access alone
Things to consider
- Reported national-trial yield (700–800 kg/ha per multiple corroborated sources) sits a little above this record's top-level 5–7 q/ha field — stated here as a range rather than picking one.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Rajasthan
- Madhya Pradesh
Frequently asked questions
What makes RT 351 different from older Rajasthan sesame releases like RT 127?
Its multicapsular trait — several seed capsules per leaf axil instead of the single/alternate arrangement of RT 46, RT 127 and RT 346 — which packs more seed-bearing sites onto the same short-duration plant.
Sourced from: Yield Gaps and Scaling Up of Sesame Variety (RT-351) in Potential Areas of Rajasthan — Indian Journal of Extension Education. editorial policy.