Black Mustard Seeds

History
In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, the mustard seed is used by Jesus in the parable of the Mustard Seed as a model for the kingdom of God which initially starts small but grows to be the biggest of all garden plants. The earliest reference to mustard is in India from a story of Gautama Buddha in the 5th century BCE. Gautama Buddha told the story of the grieving mother (Kisa Gotami) and the mustard seed.
Regional usage
Mohari (Marathi: मोहरी ), Aavalu (Telugu: ఆవlu), kadugu (Tamil: கடுகு), or sasive (Kannada:ಸಾಸಿವೆ), “Kadugu” (Malayalam: കടുക്) variety of Indian pickle consisting mainly of mangoes, red chilli powder and aavaa pindi (powdered mustard seed) preserved in mustard oil, is popular in Southern India with its origin in Andhra Pradesh. These mustard seeds are known in Hindi/Urdu as sarson (indian colza, Brassica rapa subsp. trilocularis, syn. Brassica campestris var. sarson)[5] and in Punjabi as sarron.
Production

• India
• Canada
• Nepal
• Myanmar
• Russia
• Ukraine
• China
• United States
• France
• Czech Republic
• Germany

Production of Mustard in India

• Rajasthan
• Uttar-Pradesh
• Haryana
• Gujarat
• West Bengal
• Assam
• Madhya Pradesh

Uses
These are used as a spice in Northern India and Nepal. The seeds are usually roasted until they pop. They are also planted to grow saag (greens) which are stir-fried and eaten as a vegetable preparation, sarson ka saag (sarron da saag in Punjabi). In Maharastra, it is called as mohari, and is used frequently in Maharanee’s recipes. Sarson ka tel (mustard oil) is used for body massage during extreme winters, as it is assumed to keep the body warm and moist.
Cultivation
Mustard seeds generally take three to ten days to germinate if placed under the proper conditions, which include a cold atmosphere and relatively moist soil. Mustard grows well in temperate regions. Major producers of mustard seeds include Canada, Hungary, Great Britain, India, Pakistan and the United States. Brown and black mustard seeds return higher yields than their yellow counterparts. In Pakistan, rapeseed-mustard is the second most important source of oil, after cotton. It is cultivated over an area of 307,000 hectares with annual production of 233,000 tonnes and contributes about 17% to the domestic production of edible oil. Mustard seed is a rich source of oil and protein. The seed has oil as high as 46-48%, whole seed meal has 43.6 % protein.
New crop
February-March