AGR 301 :: Lecture 13 :: LINSEED Linum usitatissimum L.
- Origin – South western Asia
- In India, it is grown in M.P., U.P., Maharashtra, Bihar, Rajasthan, Karnataka and West Bengal
- Grown for fibre and oil extraction
- Climate
- Needs cooler climate
- Temperature - 25 to 30º C during germination
- 15 to 20º C during seed formation, but fibre requires still lower temperature
- As a rainfed crop, grown in areas receiving 450-750mm of rainfall
- Higher temp at this stage induces early flowering
- Pearlmillet does not resist drought but cut shorts its life cycle and comes flowering early under adverse conditions
- Rainfall during flowering & grain formation- poor grain setting
- Rain at grain maturity - ergot disease due to high humidity & low temp.
- Hence optimum time of sowing is very vital for this crop
- Soil
- Deep cotton soil of central India, alluvial loam soil of North India, soil must be well drained
- Improved varieties
- Neelam , K2, Himilini, Jawahar 17,18, Mukta, Chambal
- Field preparation
- Fine and smooth seed bed free from clods
- Free of termites and ants
- Sowing
- Mid September to Mid October – rainfed crop
- Mid October - Mid November
- In U.P. Linseed is sown in standing rice crop as relay crop during September – October. This system of sowing is also called as paira or Utera cropping
- Seed rate
- 20-30 kg/ha for line sowing, 35-40 kg/ha for broad casting
- Spacing – 20 to 30 cm of row spacing
- Nutrient management
- Irrigated – 30 to 40kg of N & P
- Rainfed – 20 to 30 kg/ha of N & P
- Relay cropping – 10 to 15 kg/ha of N
- Weed management
- Weed free condition upto 25 DAS
- 2 hand weedings at 21 DAS and after 35 to 40 DAS
- Retting
- It is a process of fibre extraction
- Kinds of retting
- Hot water, cold water, snow, dew retting
- Temp decides duration of retting and quality
- Standing warm water is more suitable than running cold water
- Double retting is in practice in cold countries
- Retting period is 4-6 days
- After retting cleaned in running water, dried and ready for scutching
- To separate the valuable fibers of (flax, for example) from the woody parts by beating
- Rainfed areas in India water availability is problem hence they are not opting to fibre flax
- Water management
- Light irrigations at 35 DAS and 65 DAS
- Harvesting
- At red ripe stage for fibre crop
- For grain and fibre at physiological maturity
- Storage moisture – 10 to 12%
- Oil content in seed – 36 to 42%
- Grain yield
- Irrigated 1.0 to 1.2 t/ha
Multiple choice questions
- 70% of the production of Linseed in India is in ___________
a. M.P. & U.P b. Tamil Nadu c. Karnataka - Soil type suitable for Linseed cultivation is ________
a. Clay loam soils b. Loam soils c. Heavy soils - The centre of origin of linseed is __________
a. Africa b. America c. Mediterranean - The inflorescence in linseed is ________
a. Racemeb. Ear c. Cymose - Optimum temperature towards seed formation of linseed ranges between____
a. 15-200c b. 20-220c c. 25-300c - Optimum temperatures for proper germination of linseed is ________
a. 20-220c b. 25-300c c. 150c - The recommended seed rate for line sowing of linseed is_________kg/ha
a. 20 b. 10 c. 40 - The recommended seed rate for sowing of linseed by broadcasting is_____ kg/ha
a. 30-40 b. 20-30 c. 40-50 - Linseed is commonly known as ________ in western countries
a. Fiber b. Flax c. Coir - Linseed oil contains ________ % linolinic acid
a. 50-60 b. 20-30 c. 40-50 - The linseed fruit is known as ________
a. Caryopsis b. Head c. Capsule - The linseed crop besides oil is grown for centuries for extraction of ________
a. Fiber b. Dye c. Resins - Linseed seed normally contains protein and oil percent ________ respectively
a. 40 & 20 b. 20 & 40 c. 40 & 30
 |
Download this lecture as PDF here |