INTER AND INTRA ROW SPACING EFFECTS ON GROWTH, SEED YIELD AND OIL CONTENTS OF WHITE MUSTARD (Sinapis alba L.) UNDER RAINFED CONDITIONS

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of different plant densities on growth and yield of white mustard during rabi 2008-09 under rain fed conditions. three plant spacing (5, 10 and 15cm) and three row spacing (10, 20 and 30cm) were applied during the course of study. results indicated that plant density has significant effects on growth, seed yield and oil contents of white mustard. number of pods per plant (2002), number of seeds per pod (4.67), 1000 seed weight (5.02 g), oil contents (32.21 %) and fatty acids except linoleic acid significantly increased by increasing plant spacing due to less competition among plants for moisture, light and nutrients. the maximum plant height (148.9 cm) was with 10 × 20 cm spacing. maximum seed yield (2046 kg ha^-1) was recorded for row spacing 15cm where plants were spaced 10cm within rows. at higher plant density, the overall seed yield of white mustard increased with increasing number of pods per plant. thus, it is concluded that white mustard should be grown at 150 cm grids for higher yield output.