Over the years, Kashmir has witnessed a major success in mustard oil seed farming and it was last year only when the valley’s Agriculture Department revealed that 1.5 lakh hectares of land was brought under oil-seed cultivation during 2022-23 which is a record so far.
Officials from the Agriculture Department reported that in the year 2021-22, a total of 100,000 hectares of land were allocated for oil-seed cultivation, marking a significant increase from the 30,000 hectares devoted to mustard oil cultivation in the previous year, 2020-21.
In Kashmir region, oil seeds are grown in almost all areas, but the major areas are Anantnag, Srinagar, Kupwara, Budgam, Baramulla etc. Mustard farming has gained popularity in the valley following the rise in oil prices in markets.
Mohammadd Shafi, a farmer from Budgam said many farmers in their area who had forgotten the mustard farming are now again sowing the seed for past three years. He said that some of the farmers have shifted to mustard after a gap of six or seven years.
Over the past many years, the agriculture department has been working to push mustard oil cultivation and now farmers have developed more interest in mustard cultivation this year.
“Mustard has many benefits for farmers. Farmers can produce oil every year on their land and can sow a second crop once mustard is harvested. The prices of oils have increased and farmers should go for mustard farming,” the farmer said.
According to farmers, last year’s favorable weather conditions led to a doubling of production, particularly due to an increase in the amount of land brought under cultivation.
Fayaz Ahmad, a farmer from Pattan said farmers should sow crops that have huge economic benefit so that farmers can add their income and tale benefit.
“Earlier, there was an issue with the seeds. Now with the support of agriculture, farmers get high quality and hybrid seeds that have the potential to double the production,” he said.
As per Director Agriculture Kashmir, Chowdhary Muhammad Iqbal, during the 2022-23 Rabi season, an area of 1.5 lakh hectares was brought under oil-seeds cultivation.
“This is the major success story of the agriculture department. We are happy that we have brought the record land under mustard cultivation,” he said.
The director emphasized that the increase in oil-seed production will contribute to lowering the exorbitant prices of oils. “Yes, it will lessen the reliance on imported processed Mustard Oil, consequently mitigating the prices of edible oil to some extent,” he said.
Mustard requires about 31-40 cms of water. Due to its low water requirement oil-seeds fit well in the rain-fed cropping system. In general, with elevated irrigation amounts, oil-seed vegetative and generative characteristics resulted in statistical difference. Irrigation at critical stages of its growth increases both the number of branches and pod per plant values.
The director said adoption of drought-tolerant varieties can come as rescue to existing problem of oil seeds by plant breeding programs selection and hybridization between introduction lines
To enhance the production of oil seeds under rain-fed and irrigated conditions certain strategies are to be implemented which include extending irrigation facilities, using important moisture conservation practices such as mulching, timely weed control, seed selection and proper seed rate, time and method of sowing, varietal selection and crop rotation, growing heat and drought-resistant varieties, integrated nutrient management using micro nutrients, seed inoculation with Rhizobium culture, and integrated pest management and inter cropping.
To realize the Prime Minister’s goal of doubling the income of farmers, the Department of Agriculture Kashmir has been launching massive campaigns under ‘National Mission on Edible Oils’ for doubling the area under mustard Oil seeds.
Officials said the mission has been successful and the increase in mustard cultivation will also help in pollination and flowering of horticulture crops.
The Director Agriculture said that main objective of the Oil seed Mission is to bring more and more land under the cultivation of oil seed (mustard).
Iqbal emphasized on the importance of oil seed in the agriculture sector. He said there is a great scope for this crop in the valley so far as its productivity is concerned, which is comparatively better than many other parts of the country.
He said the oil recovery rate of the mustard produced in the valley is much better than the mustard produced in some other parts of the country and these are the driving forces that Department is taking seriously in order to increase the area under this importance crop.
Two years ago, under Holistic Agriculture Development Program (HADP) the Agriculture Production Department has planned a road-map for promotion of oil seed cultivation has been given due consideration.
The oil seed project included several interventions aimed at increasing oil seed production and productivity, with an estimated annual output worth Rs 1290 crore.
On the other side, mustard oil seed cultivation has also achieved a milestone in Kupwara district with the agriculture department expecting bumper crop production this year.
Agriculture officials in Kupwara said last year the Agriculture Department brought 6,700 hectares of land under oil seed cultivation during 2022-23 (Rabi season) which is a record in itself from the frontier district.
In the previous year (2021-22), he said the area under mustard cultivation in the frontier district was 4,300 hectares only. “We are working on a mission mode over the past two years to bring more land under mustard oil cultivation and double farmer income,” the official said.
“We have a huge land area in Kupwara for mustard cultivation but unfortunately at many places, there are waterlogged areas and mustard seed would not survive there,” he said.
Last year about 30,000 farmers were involved in mustard cultivation and the production is expected to witness a boost. He said in 2022, 43,000 quintals of mustard was produced in the district.
Kashmir annually cultivates Mustard, a versatile crop harvested both in April as the main crop and in a double-crop system. The planting season begins in October, and the harvest occurs during the last week of April and May.
Despite a significant demand for edible oils in the region, amounting to ₹14.20 lakh quintals, the local production only amounts to 3.36 lakh quintals. To bridge this gap, the government has ambitious plans to expand mustard cultivation, aiming to cover an extensive area of 7.5 lakh hectares.
