Effect of nitrogen levels on growth, yield and oil quality of Indian mustard grown under different plant densities

Abstract

The study investigated agronomical and qualitative features of Indian mustard in a semi-arid region from Iran. Field trials were designed in split plot arrangement based on a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicates at the Agricultural Faculty of Takestan, Iran. In the study, plant height (cm), the number of seeds in the siliqua (seed/siliqua), the number of siliquae in the plant (siliqua/plant), seed yield (kg/ha), biological yield (kg/ha), thousand-seed weight (g), harvest index (%), oil content (%) and oil yield (kg/ha) were determined. The all growth and yield parameters of mustard plant were significantly affected by nitrogen fertilization. All the parameters, except for harvest index (HI), were drastically affected by used densities. The highest seed yield and oil yield (2961 and 1159 kg/ha, respectively) were obtained for the crop utilized with 200 kg N/ha in plots with 80 plants/m2. The maximum oil content (43.97%) was recorded in the lowest plant density (80 plants/m2) and nitrogen application level of 50 kg/ha. Results suggest that in semi-arid region of Takestan, researchers must direct their selection treatments to increase oil quality of Indian mustard.