Growing guide
How to grow mustard
Haryana’s low-water rabi oilseed with a strong MSP and short cash cycle.
At a glance
- Planting window
- Late September – 20 October (irrigated)
- Duration
- 130–150 days
- Climate
- 18–25 °C at sowing; cool, dry winter
- Soil
- Sandy loam to loam; pH 6–8.5
- Water need
- Low · about 200–300 mm a season
- Seed
- 1.5–2 kg per acre
- Spacing
- 45 × 15 cm
- Yield
- 7–10 quintals per acre under irrigation.
What to do, and when
Dates assume planting around 5 Oct. Change the plan to shift them.
- 1–3 weeks before — Prepare a fine seedbed: Pre-sowing irrigation on sandy soils.
- Day 0 — Sow: 1.5–2 kg per acre with phosphorus and sulphur.
- Days 15–20 — Thin plants: Keep 10–15 cm between plants.
- Days 30–40 — First irrigation + nitrogen: Before flowering.
- Months 2–3 — Aphid and stem rot watch: Check shoots weekly in December and January.
- Months 2–3 — Irrigate at pod filling: Also before a frost forecast.
- Months 4–5 — Harvest: When 75% of pods turn yellow — later harvest shatters seed.
- Month 5 — Sell: MSP procurement or oil-mill buyers.
Varieties to consider
Buy certified seed or planting material from an authorised source.
- RH 725 · RH 749 · RH 761 — CCS HAU releases widely grown in Haryana.
- Giriraj — ICAR-DRMR variety for timely-sown irrigated fields.
Water
- One or two irrigations: before flowering and at pod filling.
- Never let it go short at: Pre-flowering (30–40 days) · Pod filling (60–80 days)
- A light irrigation before a forecast frost protects flowers and pods.
Nutrition
Sulphur raises oil content — single super phosphate or gypsum supplies it.
- Dose: Irrigated: about 80 kg N, 40 kg P₂O₅ and 40 kg sulphur per hectare
- At sowing: all phosphorus and sulphur with half the nitrogen.
- First irrigation: remaining nitrogen.
Pests and diseases to watch
Prevent first; spray only when needed, with a product registered for the crop, at label dose.
- Mustard aphid (undefined) — undefined Treatment: undefined
- Painted bug (undefined) — undefined Treatment: undefined
- Sclerotinia stem rot (undefined) — undefined Treatment: undefined
- White rust (undefined) — undefined Treatment: undefined
- Alternaria blight (undefined) — undefined Treatment: undefined
- Orobanche (broomrape) (undefined) — undefined Treatment: undefined
Yield and economics
- Cost per acre: undefined
- Yield per acre: undefined
- Price: MSP 2026-27
- Margin: undefined
What would you like to do next?
Where these numbers come from
- ICAR / state university general recommendation A typical range for irrigated conditions. Your soil test decides the final dose.
- Common grower practice in north India Widely followed by farmers; confirm with your KVK for your block.
- Agriculture Novel indicative estimate A planning number, not a quote. Replace it with your own costs and your mandi’s price.
- Minimum Support Prices, Rabi Marketing Season 2026-27 Government of India, approved 1 October 2025.