Status and perspective of canola quality rapeseed-mustard cultivation in India : a review.

Rapeseed-mustard (Brassica spp.) constitutes an important source of edible oil and meal. However, traditional rapeseed-mustard varieties accumulate high amount of erucic acid and glucosinolate in their seeds. These quantitatively inherited anti-nutritional factors drastically reduce the quality of rapeseed-mustard seed oil and meal for consumption purposes. Development of rapeseed-mustard varieties with low erucic acid and glucosinolate content, therefore, has been an important breeding objective worldwide. Breeding programmes for developing canola quality (<2% erucic acid in oil and <30 µmoles of glucosinolate/g of oil-free seed meal) rapeseed began in Canada as early as 1956. In India, however, the major efforts were made in the 1970’s with the launch of Indo-Swedish and Indo-Canadian collaborative projects (1979–94) to improve rapeseedmustard oil and meal quality and consequently varieties low in erucic acid and/or glucosinolate were developed. However, the existence of a significant yield gap between potential yield and the yield obtained in frontline demonstrations indicates the need for further refinement in technology packages for these varieties. In addition, it is also important to educate the masses about the health benefits of canola quality oil. This paper reviews the status and perspective of breeding and cultivation of canola quality rapeseed-mustard varieties, besides highlighting the impact of technology on profitability, strategies, policies, and future outlook for canola quality oil promotion in India.