Production potential and quality of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) as influenced by abiotic factors and sowing methods in rainfed conditions of Uttar Pradesh

A field experiment was carried out during rabi seasons of 2004–05 and 2005–06 at Students’ Instructional Farm of C.S. Azad University of Agriculture and Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh to study the effect of abiotic factors (temperature, sunshine hour and relative humidity) and sowing methods on growth, yield and quality of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czernj. & Cosson) under rainfed conditions of Uttar Pradesh. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with four replications involving 6 methods of sowing, viz. regular method, border method, skipped row technique, paired method, broadcasting and seeding through hand drawn machine. Emergence, flowering and pod development phases of the Indian mustard were most sensitive to abiotic factors. Higher sunshine hour (7.0 and 6.4 hour), maximum temperature (30⁰ and 23°C) and minimum temperature (<13⁰ and <7°C) during emergence and flowering stages, respectively were favorable for the crop. Line sown Indian mustard gave 11–50% higher seed yield than broadcast sowing. Skipped row and border row methods gave higher seed yield compared to other methods.