Agri-research institute ICAR today said it has licensed an indigenously developed mustard variety called 'Pusa Mustard-30', which contains low erucic acid, to Rajasthan-based firm Arpan Seeds in the PPP mode.
"This is the first of its kind effort by ICAR under public private partnership (PPP) to launch an indigenously developed health value product with improved oil quality," Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said in statement.
This variety, which was released for central India in 2013, is already in commercial cultivation, it said, adding that the large scale commercial cultivation in fields is supported by the South Asia Biotechnology Centre.
The new variety contains 38 per cent oil content and only 2 per cent erucic acid as against 40 per cent in normal mustard varieties. The new variety was developed using conventional breeding method, it said.
Higher erucic acid content leads to diseases like myocardial fibrosis in adults and lipidosis in children, thereby affecting human health, it added.
ICAR is pursuing the development of improved crop varieties and recently has given due emphasis on improving the nutritional quality of various crops.
