1Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, S.V.B.P. University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut-250 110 (U.P.) India.
2Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Ch. Charan Singh University, Meerut-250 004 (U.P.) India.
3Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500 030 (A.P.).
*E-mail: singhdrvikas@yahoo.com
Rapeseed (Brassica campestris) and mustard (Brassica juncea) are the most important rabi oilseed crops of India. Indian mustard, [Brassica juncea (L.) Czern & Coss] is the most important member of the group under rapeseed mustard accounting for more than 90% of the area. India's production of this crop was 6.69 million tonnes (27.4% of total oilseed crops), whereas average yield was 1057 kg/ha during 2006–07. The total vegetable oil import in India during (November 2006- October 2007) was 4.41 million tonnes, whereas it was 2.74 million tonnes during November 2006- June 2007. The export of oilseed crop seed meal from India was 5.17 million tonnes among them rapeseed mustard seed meal export was maximum i.e., 0.97 million tonnes. Therefore, the emphasis should be more on higher productivity per unit area and per unit time, rather than on expansion in area. Oil crops are important sources of energy, both for human consumption and livestock feeding. Winter rape (Brassica napus) with Canola quality, i.e. low-glucosinolate, low-erucic acid varieties, nowadays represents one of the world's major sources of vegetable oil. The value of rapeseed for food and feed use can be further improved by increasing desirable traits, e.g. oil content, and reducing undesired characteristics, e.g. fiber content or anti-nutritional compounds. According to recent studies diets including mustard oil and vegetables (especially green leafy vegetables) could contribute to lower the risk of heart disease among Indians. Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a leading cause of death in India. To enhance yield potential of rapeseed-mustard in India, exploitation of heterosis through development of commercial hybrids using cytoplasmic male sterility has been reported in Indian mustard by various workers. The other techniques for breaking the yield barrier involve wide hybridization, development of herbicide tolerant cultivars, breeding for biotic and abiotic stresses. To increase the value of Indian oil in International market scientists are developing cultivars with low erucic acid (less than 2%) in oil and glucosinolate content in oil meal (less than 30 um/g) oil quality. Efforts are being made for developing improved basic stocks and cultivars possessing novel desirable traits by combining biotechnological approaches with classical breeding schemes, which offer a wide spectrum of methods, such as generation of doubled-haploid lines, interspecific hybridization and molecular marker techniques.
Rapeseed-mustard, erucic acid, glucosinolate, yield, breeding and biotechnology
