Crop guide

Canola

1. Land Preparation Fine, level seedbed as for mustard. Canola is the low-erucic type grown for edible oil and needs the same care but slightly better land. 2. Sowing Time & Method Mid-October to mid-November.

Rabi Sowing Oct–Nov Harvest Mar–Apr 18–28 maund per acre

Land Preparation

Fine, level seedbed as for mustard. Canola is the low-erucic type grown for edible oil and needs the same care but slightly better land.

Sowing Time & Method

Mid-October to mid-November. Later sowing runs into heat at pod filling and cuts oil yield sharply. Rows 12 inches apart.

Seed Rate & Treatment

2–2.5 kg per acre of certified seed. Farm-saved canola loses its low-erucic quality within a generation or two, so buy fresh seed.

Fertilizer

Two bags urea and one bag DAP, plus sulphur. Canola has a high sulphur demand — without it, yield and oil percentage both drop.

Irrigation

Three irrigations: rosette, flowering and pod filling.

Weed Control

Weed Damage Control Product
Bathu (Lambsquarters) Germinates with the crop in the same cool, moist seedbed and takes the early nitrogen, leaving thin plants with few branches. Hoeing at 25–30 days
Wild Oat (Jangli Jai) Tillers thickly through the winter and takes the nitrogen and moisture the crop needs for branching, leaving fewer pods on every plant. Sow clean, oat-free seed; pull the plants that escape before the panicle sheds, so the field does not carry the seed into next year
Canary Grass (Dumbi Sitti) Matches the crop height in the first month and takes the water and nitrogen right up to flowering, so the pods set thin. Hoe between the rows at 25–30 days; use clean, weed-free seed
Chatri Wala Dodhak (Sun Spurge) Fills the gaps between the rows in December and takes the moisture and nitrogen meant for branching, so the crop carries fewer pods. Hoeing at 25–30 days, before it flowers — a plant left standing drops a fresh lot of seed

One hoeing at 25–30 days, or a registered selective herbicide.