Root intensification fetches Madhya Pradesh mustard farmers more yield.

Farmers in Madhya Pradesh have adopted a new set of practices for mustard cultivation that can increase the yield of the oilseed over threefold. The state had adopted root intensification technique for mustard in ten districts on a pilot basis in the last rabi season, and average yields rose to 3.5 tonne a ha from around 1.0 tonne per ha that farmers usually got from traditional farming methods. The practice has been taken up formally only in Madhya Pradesh so far, but farmers in Rajasthan, Bihar and Odisha, too, are gradually switching to the system of root intensification in mustard. The method is labor-intensive, but the overall cost of mustard production using system of root intensification is lower, as it requires lesser quantity of seeds and chemical fertilizers. Higher yield in mustard, and consequently higher output of mustard oil, could help lower India’s edible oil imports.