Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, India
Brassica napus is not grown commercially in India. Attempts to introduce exotic cultivars proved futile due to their being very late, leading to very poor seed set. To breed early types, amphidiploids of B. napus were synthesized artificially by hybridizing early indigenous strains of the constituent parents, B. campestris ssp. oleifera var. brown sarson and B. oleracea var. botrytis. The merotic and fertility behaviour of amphiploids were studied and suitable genotypes were isolated after extensive selection in advanced generations. Their yielding ability and other characteristics in generation A16 suggest that some of the selections outyielded controls and exhibit other desirable yield contributing characters like large number of pods on mam branch. They are of variable maturity ranging from 140 to 154 days, very much similar to B. juncea cultivars and fit exceedingly well in the cropping pattern. Additionally, these have high degree of tolerance to aphids, Atiernaria blight and frost. These facts suggest the possi bilities of adopting B. napus as an oilseed crop on a commercial scale in India.
