Introduction :
India is one of the largest rapeseed-mustard growing country in the world, occupying the first position in Area and second position in Production after China. India is a major Rapeseed/Mustard growing country of the world contributing 28.3 and 19.8 per cent in world acreage and production.

The world production of Rapeseed/Mustard has been increasing at a rapid rate in several countries largely in response to the continuing increase in demand for edible oils and its products.

Brassica (rapeseed-mustard) is the second most important edible oilseed crop in India after groundnut and accounts for nearly 30% of the total oilseeds produced in the country. When compared to other edible oils, the rapeseed/ mustard oil has the lowest amount of harmful saturated fatty acids. It also contains adequate amounts of the two essential fatty acids, linoleic and linolenic, which are not present in many of the other edible oils.

Major Producing Area :
Indian mustard (B. juncea) is cultivated in the states of Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal as a Rabi crop.

The sowing of the seeds is done after the harvest of the Kharif crop in the month of November and is mainly cultivated on irrigated land.

Rape/Mustard seed is usually a rabi crop i.e. the plantation of the Rape/Mustard seed is done in the winter (October, November and December) and that is why it is preceded by light and showers. These showers come at the onset of the sowing season. The light showers allow right quantity of moisture to be left in the soil, thereby enabling flowering of the crop. The flowering of the crop takes place in the months of November, December, January and February and the harvest season is in the months of March, April and May.

Rape/Mustard seed was primarily used for human consumption because of low erucic acid and thus, becoming desirable edible oil. With the invention of steam power, it was found that the oil could be used as a lubricant that would cling water and steam – washed metal surfaces better than any other lubricant. The consumption of Rapeseed increased since World War II in western countries.
India and China are the two major consumers of Rape/Mustard seed. In India, consumption of Rapeseed/Mustard seed and its oil is generally high in northern states wherein it is used as a cooking medium. Traditional uses of Rape/Mustard seed, its oil and oilseed are explained as under:

Rapeseed Oil:
Rapeseed oil is of vegetable origin and is obtained from crushed rapeseed by pressing or extraction. It is a light yellow to brownish yellow oil. Rapeseed oil is one of the most important vegetable oils.

Rape oil is obtained from the seeds of several species of Brassica, and the oil from different species is not distinguished on the market, since all have similar properties. Rapeseed oil is similar to mustard seed oil.

Oil is extracted by rolling or flaking the seed to fracture the seed coat and rupture the oil cells.

For centuries, humans and animals could not consume rapeseed oil, as it had a high erucic acid content. However, rapeseed varieties are now available for cultivation which have a lower erucic acid content.

Rapeseed Oil Cake :
The press cakes are used as cattle feed, but since many of the types of seed contain essential oils which can be harmful to the cattle. The oil is usually removed by steam distillation of the press cake.

The Rapeseed oil or the de-oiled cake did not command a premium price in the international market because of the fact that Indian brassica cultivars do not meet global standards. The problem is primarily due to two elements – erucic acid in the oil and glucosinolates in the de-oiled cake.

Types of Rapeseed/Mustard:
Under the name rapeseed and mustard, seven important annual oilseeds belonging to the Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) are grown in India. They are Indian mustard (Brassica juncea [L.] Czern. & Coss.), commonly called rai (raya or laha), the three ecotypes of Indian rape, B.campestris L. ssp. oleifera viz., toria, brown sarson (lotni and tora types) and yellow sarson, Swede rape or gobhi sarson (B.napus L.), Ethiopian mustard or karan rai (B.carinata Braun.) and taramira or tara (Eruca sativa Mill.).

On the Indian subcontinent B.juncea is the dominant species grown and alongwith. B. rapa ( syn. B. campestris L.) and B. napus L. are the important sources of edible oil in India. These species are regarded as of Asiatic origin. Besides, taramira, believed to be a native of southern Europe and north Africa is grown in the drier parts of northwest India. Of late, two other exotics, namely gobhi sarson and karan rai are becoming popular with the farmers in the areas where winter spell is longer. The rapeseed-mustard group of crops are largely grown under the hardy conditions of rainfed agriculture with low input management during rabi season, but have a good inherent potential to convert natural resources into usable biological energy.

Variation in Varieties alongwith local names and chief characteristics are as follows:

Sl.No.	Botanical Name	English name	Common Name	Chief Characteristics[1]
1.	Brassica Campestris	Rapeseed	Sarson	The seeds are Bold or large size, round in shape and have a smooth surface, colour of the seed yellow or brown or dark brown to black.
2.	Brassica Campestris	Rapeseed	Toria	Seeds are spherical or avoid in shape and are reddish or dark brown in colour, having slightly wrinkled surface. Seeds are slightly smaller than those of Sarson.
3.	Brassica Juncea	Mustard	Rai	Seeds are small in size spherical or ovoid in shape and have a distinctly wrinkled surface. Colour of the seed is dark brown or black.

Demand-Supply scenario :
The projected demand for oilseeds in India is around 34 million tonnes by 2020, of which about 14 million tonnes (41%) is to be met by rapeseed-mustard^[1]

Production:
India is a major Rape/Mustard seed growing country of the world contributing the second position in terms of total production of Rape/Mustard seed after China and first position in terms of area covered for production of Rape/Mustard seed.[2]

The productivity of Rape/Mustard seed has been increased in India from 870 kg/hectare in 1998-99 to 941 kg/hectare in 2000-01. It is estimated that the productivity of Rape/mustard seed in India will reach to 1106 kg/hectare in 2001-02. Such a remarkable performance in production and yield of rapeseed-mustard leading what is commonly being called Yellow Revolution visible in all rapeseed-mustard growing states as well as in non-traditional areas of the country is reminding the production of wheat in the late sixties enabling the country to enter into the era of Green Revolution. This is to be attributed to the development of high yielding varieties coupled with improved production technologies, their widespread adoption and good support price.

In spite of these achievements, there exists a gap between production potential and actual realization. In comparison of other countries like European Union, China and Canada, productivity in India differs significantly.

The following reasons may be attributed to the lower productivity compared to other countries:^[1]

1)   Rape/Mustard seed being a self-fertilising crop does not allow for developing newer
      and better hybrids. In India research on this matter is still in the infant stage while
      in other mustard growing regions there has been a great deal of research on
      newernon self-fertilising varieties.
2)   Inferior crop cultivation and harvesting methods.
3)   Lack of quality seeding material or use of moisture-laden or pest ridden seed.
4)   Reduced soil fertility because of repeated crop sowing by the farmers of the same
      commodity.
5)   Un-seasonal rains and frost at the time of harvest also reduce the crop.

Import:
Rapeseed-mustard crops (Brassica rapa, B. juncea and B. napus) are important for the Indian economy, since India imports large quantities of edible oils despite having the largest area of cultivated oilseeds in the world. In the recent past, the country has grown to become one of the major vegetable oil importers due to a decline in oilseeds production and a steady fall in international prices. China,India and Japan are considered as net importers in the international Rapeseed Oil trade.

Export:
Rapeseed/Mustard contains high amount of erucic acid (which may cause cardiac problems) and glucosinolates (sulphur compounds present in oil cake which are harmful to animals as feed). Consequently, despite high production, the Indian rapeseed mustard varieties have limited export market as they do not match up to the requisite international standards, namely "Canola" quality, which must have less than 2% erucic acid in the seed oil and less than 30 micromoles of glucosinolate for every gram of oil free cake.

Although as India produces over 6 million tonnes of rapeseed-mustard, contributing 20% of world’s production, there is a low demand for Indian mustard oil and cake in the international markets mainly for the above said two reasons.

Prices:
Following are the general Mustard price trend in India showing an upward movement from March-April.