Yield Performance and Nutrient Uptake of Indian Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) Varieties under Different Dates of Sowing and Planting Geometry

An investigation was conducted at research farm of SKUAST–Jammu. The experiment was laid out in factorial randomized block design with 18 treatments and three replications. The treatments consisted of three dates of sowing (25th October, 5th November and 15th November), two varieties (RL-1359 and NRCDR-2) and three spacing (30 cm x 10 cm, 30 cm x 20 cm and 30 cm x 30 cm). The results revealed that the highest seed yield 1710 kg ha-1 was recorded with 25th October sown crop and significant reduction to the extent of 15.02 and 31.63 per cent was recorded when sowing was delayed to 5th November and 15th November, respectively. Among the varieties, yield attributes of varieties such as number of silliquae per plant, and 1000-seed weight were significantly higher with NRCDR-2 than RL-1359. However, seeds siliqua-1 of both the varieties was at par. Variety NRCDR-2 also recorded significantly higher seed yield 1510 kg ha-1 which was about 9.57 per cent more in comparison to RL-1359 (1378 kg ha-1). However, seeds siliqua-1 and 1000-seed weight of 30 cm x 30 cm and 30 cm x 20 cm was at par but significantly superior to 30 cm x 10 cm whereas, silliquae plant-1 was significantly higher with spacing of 30 cm x 30 cm as compared to 30 cm x 10 cm and 30 cm x 20 cm. Nutrient uptake in Indian mustard varieties was also significantly higher in October 25 sown  crop along with the spacing of 30 cm x 10 cm at different dates of sowing and spacing. Among the varieties NRCDR-2 depicted significant higher nutrient uptake