Conference on mustard in Jaipur on Sep 30

Over 200 scientists, oil technologists, mustard processors, farmers' representatives, policy makers, and trade professionals from all over India will be participating in a conference on "Current scenario of mustard in India" in Jaipur on September 30.

The conference is being organised by the Mustard Research and Promotion Consortium, New Delhi, and supported by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India, New Delhi, Rajfed and Tilam Sangh, Jaipur.

"The conference comes at a time when the mustard sector is emerging out of a slump, when farmers faced difficulty in selling their produce, and several oil mills have to be shut down because of non-parity. The mustard sector is now upbeat and is gearing up to meet the global challenges", H B Singh, convener of the conference, said.

Singh while addressing a press conference here on Monday said the conference would focus on issues that required to be resolved to make mustard oil globally competitive.

It is expected that plant breeders and biotechnologists will announce new, superior varieties and transgenic (genetically modified) crops.

In addition to high yielding varieties of conventional pungent mustard, there are now testing indigenously developed, non-pungent and oleic acid rich varieties of mustard adapted to local conditions. Developing synergy between germplasm experts, breeders and crop biotechnologists, will be a key theme of the conference.

A highlight of the conference will be a discussion on health and nutritional aspects of mustard oil. Noted experts are of the view that mustard oil is one of the healthiest edible oil.

It has lowest saturated fatty acids and high amount of monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are healthy.

In fact, mustard oil has an ideal ratio of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are essential for human health. This has also been supported by study at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, in which Indian mustard oil was compared with Canola oil.

In the new global regime, storage, testing, packaging and marketing strategies have assumed great importance. Oil technologists and marketing experts are expected to come up with fresh recommendations to meet the quality component assessment requirements in the light of WTO regulations.

Value addition is considered the key to international competitiveness of mustard oil. Scientists at the conference will present their findings on efficient processing technologies, industrial applications of oleochemicals derived from mustard oil, inter-esterification for diversification of mustard oil uses, scope of mustard protein in processed food formulation, and the use of protein from seed cake for human consumption.

New technologies will be beneficial to all stake holders, farmers, oil producers, traders and consumers. Mustard, already a multi-purpose crop, is expected to emerge as a designer crop for varied food, feed, medicine and industrial uses.

The motto of the conference is to make mustard oil the number one oilseed in the country.