Canola is a crop with plants from three to five feet tall that produce pods from which seeds are harvested and crushed to create canola oil and meal. These plants also produce small, yellow flowers. Canola seeds contain about 45 percent oil.
Varieties
BN 001, BN 002, BN 003, BN 004, BN 005, BN 006, BN 007, BN 008, BN 009, BN 010, BN 011, BN 012, BN 013 and BN 014.
Ecological requirements
Altitude: 1800-2400m above sea level.
Rainfall:300-600mm well distributed, irrigation is necessary depending on weather conditions.
Temperature:At least 100C
Soils:Wide range of soils that arewell drained, with moderate fertility
Land preparation
Plough early during the dry spell to allow the stumble to dry and rot, harrow the field twice to achieve medium tilth.
Planting
Make shallow drills 2-3cm deep at a spacing of 20cm by 30cm and sow the seeds. Seedrate is roughly 10kg per hectare. Apply 100kg DAP during planting.
Weed management
The crop smother weeds once it establishes, use pre-emergence herbicides eg LASSO MT after planting.
Pest management
Flea beetles- Conserve natural enemies eg wasps, they predate on the pest hence checking their population.
Red turnid beetle-Conserve natural enemies eg wasps
Diamond backmoth- Use suitable insecticide eg bullet
Beet webworm- Use insecticide such as deltamethrin
Disease management
White rust- Practice crop rotation, destroy volunteer crops, plant clean seeds
Sclerotinia stem rot- Use clean planting materials, control weeds and volunteer crops
Black leg- Practice crop rotation, seed treatment, destroy volunteer plants and wild mustard.
Harvesting
Done when the crop appears brownish green and majority of the seeds are in a firm dough stage and moisture content of 20-45%. Yield range from 1.5-4 tons per hectare.
Post-harvest handling
Drying and threshing– Thresh and dry the seeds to a moisture content of 10% before storage.
Storage– The seeds should be stored in a store with free flow of air to prevent seed spoilage.