Rape and Mustard Oil | Important Oil Crop

Rape and Mustard is a famous important Oil Seed Crops in the world. Its very much well known to the farmers. Mustard Oil is being used as a medium of cooking from the time immemorial. The oil is also used by the villagers of Bangladesh for hair dressing and message of the bodies before health.

Most farmers in Bangladesh grow Rape and Mustard without proper care. The only operations undertake is to plough the land twice or thrice before sowing seeds. hence, the per acre yield of Mustard is 6 to 7 mds per acre (5-6 quintals per hectare) as against twice the yield which can be obtained if the crop is grown by scientific and modern methods.

The Mustard Seed usually contains 40 to 44 % oil and 24 to 25 % protein. The Seed roughage which is obtained after extraction of oil is known as Mustard Cake. The cake, which contains 40% protein, is an ideal feed for cattle. The cake can also be used a good organic manure as it contains fair amount of nitrogen in the form of protein, This manure is highly suitable for Cultivation of Banana, Potato and Betel Leaf etc.

In Bangladesh Mustard Paste is used for preparing pickles oh Olive, Ber etc. In some fish curries, particularly "Hilsa Curries", the Mustard Paste is used sometimes.

Mustard Oil has several medicinal uses. If it is rubbed all over the body of a baby or an adult followed by sun bathing for one hour or so, a good amount of Vitamin-D is synthesized in the body which is essential for bone formation. In Herbal Medicine, it is believed that Mustard Oil boiled with few cloves of Garlic can cure some forms of Influenza.

In fact Mustard Oil is not of good quality as the oil contains 45 to 50 % of uric acid, which is an undesirable ingredient. Most people use Mustard Oil continuously on regular basis yet some kind serious harmful affects have been reported, probably because of less oil consumption.

Soil and Climate:

Mustard generally grows well in light soil i.e., silt, loamy, silt-loam and sandy loam soils. Of these four soil types, the loamy type is the best for Rape and Mustard cultivation. Mustard can be grown in heavy soil if it is well drained. The waterlogged soil is not at all suitable for Mustard Cultivation. In rainfall and cold temperature, Mustard grows well. Hence this crop is widely grown under the cloudless sunny skies of winter in Bangladesh.

A brief Botanical Description of Mustard

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Oil Seed and Oil Crop

Cultivation and Importance of Oil Seeds and Oil Crops

Edible Oil is integral part of our daily diet. It is essential for Health. Fats and oils are available from different sources like animal and plants. Animal Fats are derived from Milk, Butter etc but compared to the oil obtained from various Oil Crops are very costly.

Oil from plants is easily digestible and its Nutrient Quality is better than that of Animal Fats. Also more energy is supplied by plant products than that by Animal Products, particularly from Oil Crops like Groundnut, Soybean, Palm and Mustard etc.

For example oil extracted from Coconut, Groundnut or Mustard supplies 900 kilo-calorie (energy) as against Butter and Fish which provides 729 and 273 kilo-calorie, respectively.

It is evident that Vegetable Oil, which may be obtained from plant sources by cultivation of Oil Crops, is no less important than Animal Fat for energy.

The Nutritional requirements of human being are vary depending on the body weight, age, sex climate etc. It is generally recommended that 15% to 20% of the total calories requirement for a person should be supplied from fats and Oils. The average requirement, at this rate, works out to approximately 35 gm.

Oil Seeds provide an additional advantage because the Oil cake or meal contains adequate amounts of protein which is available without any extra cost and labor. Both men and animal derive benefit from them either directly or indirectly. The Mustard cake is good manure or Crops. It is also beneficial as a feed for draft animal and milch cows. The Protein content in the "whole seeds" of most Oil Crops varies from 20 % to 25%, but in the cakes it is much higher.

Soybean is an exception in that it contains 40% to 45% protein, which is the highest of all the Crops. Like Vegetable Oil, proteins food from vegetable sources is cheaper than that from animal sources and is more desirable.

Some other benefits are also derived from Oil Seeds. Milk from Soybean and Groundnut is important among these. The milk prepared from Soybean is already in use within many countries. Beside Soybean and Groundnut improve the soil by addition of Nitrogen from their nodules formed in the root system. This increases the yield of the next crop substantially and reduces the requirement of Nitrogenous Fertilizers.

For example, it is found that the effect of the next Wheat Crop is very beneficial.

Another benefit of growing Oil Crops like Mustard, Sesame, Sunflower and Niger is that they are a source of Honey collected by bees. Also no one can deny the aesthetic beauty of Sunflower, Safflower, Niger when in bloom. Thus an Oil Crop not only helps in getting Oil, Protein, Milk, Honey, Nitrogen (fertilizer) but also beautifies the landscape.

Which other Crop can provide so many benefits at one time?

It is therefore important that Oil Seed should be cultivated and the production increased to reduce the deficiency of oil as well as to derive other benefits.

Thanks for reading my Oil Seed and Oil Crop Blog.

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