Indigenous technological practices followed by mustard grower in Rajasthan

A study was conducted among 120 farmers sampled from four district representing irrigated mustard eco-system, rainfed low land eco-system, dry land and upland eco-system in the Pali district of Rajasthan state. Indigenous practices related to mustard cultivation were documented using openended questions developed in the form of check list. Findings of the study revealed that summer ploughing (79%) and in-situ burning of mustard stable (38.33%); growing green manures in summer (75.00%); placing weight on soaked seed (48.33%) were some of the traditional practices frequently done by the large number of farmers for the activities like land preparation, green manuring and seed treatment respectively. The study further revealed that farmers sowed mustard seed in furrow methods mainly in the barani kheti. Most common practices related to management of insect pest, rodents and birds were dusting of ash (37.50%), tying white flags in the mustard fields to scare rodents (45.83%) and use of polythene cover (65.83%). Similarly, on the aspects of post harvest management it was found that ‘Mara’ was used by number of sampled farmers (95.83%).