Breeding of Improved Yellow Seeded Indian Mustard

A spontaneously produced yellow seeded mutant was isolated in Brassica juncea (L) Czern and Goss during 1963–64 in the variety ‘oriental’ and was named ‘oriental mutant’. This mutant was tall, late and lower in yield. It was crossed with 5 high yielding varieties of normal blackish brown seeded B. juncea, mainly to combine high yield and early maturity with yellow seed coat colour. Pedigree method of breeding was followed. Selected plants from high yielding pure breeding, yellow seeded pedigrees were bulked in F₅ generation to produce 11 elite populations. Four elite populations were tested again for two seasons.

Elite 2 was the top yielder in all the three trials, the average yield being 22.69 q per ha. Elite 2 gave seed and oil yield of 26.14 and 10.30 q. per ha respectively during the first year as compared to 13.78 and 6.45 q per ha respectively obtained from T 6342, the highest yielding parent. Elite 2 also had 79-4% higher seed weight compared to oriental mutant. T 59, T 6342 and RT II proved to be better parents as compared to Laha 101 and T 62 in producing high yielding and yellow seeded pedigrees.