Integrated Pest Management

•  Insect Management 

•  Disease Management 

•  Weed Management 

•  Nutrient Disorder Management 

•  Resistant Varieties Information

•  Natural Enemy Information

•  IPM Modules

Agronomic Practices

Field Preparation

• Mustard requires a fine, firm and moist seed bed for optimum germination of the seeds and growth of the young seedlings.

• Mustard generally gives optimum production in well fertilized sandy to sandy loam soils with adequate drainage.

• It requires fine, firm and moist seed bed.

• The land can be prepared by giving one ploughing followed by discing or planking.

• Deep ploughing should be done to expose the soil borne pathogen and the hibernating stage of the defoliators.

• Destruction of plant debris and earlier crop residues.

• If the field is having weed problem, then stale seed bed technique can be used.

• Let a heavy flush of weeds be emerged and then destroy it with herbicide before sowing the crop, without any tillage on it.

• Most of the weeds seed germinate from the top 5cm of soil surface in about a week's time, these weed seedlings can be destroyed either with a contact herbicide or by shallow type tillage implements like spike tooth harrow.

• In stale seed bed technique depending upon the availability of time and resources one or two flushes of weeds can be destroyed before planting of the crop.

Seed & Sowing

• Care should be taken to purchase the seeds only from the authorized seed sale counter like the Vishwa Vidyalaya Farms, State Seed Corporation, National Seed Corporation etc. and only registred and certified seeds should be purchased.
• The pretreated seeds need not be treated again.
• Seed treatment using Thiram or carbendazim @2.5 g/kg seed protects the crop by Root rot and Sclerotinia.
• Seed treatment with Apron 35 SD @ 6 g/kg seed controls the initial infection of White rust and Downy mildew and thus saves the use of costly chemicals.

Harvest

• Harvesting of the crop is done when the pods turn yellow  in colour, and the stem turns slightly brown in colour and is changing colour.

• The seeds turn dark in colour and also they become dry and give a rattling sound when it is  shaken.

• Harvesting is done manually with the help of sickle by cutting down the stem at a lower portion,

• Harvesting should be done preferably in the morning to reduce the shattering losses.

• After harvesting, the heaps are layered on the field for drying so that the moisture percentage is reduced.