Indian Farming 68(01): 49–54; January 2018 Double purpose linseed: a viable option for doubling farmers' income in the north-western Himalyan region

P. K. Singh1 and Pankaj Chopra2 CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidhyala, Palampur (Himachal Pradesh) 176 062

Linseed is a rabi crop, grown both for seed and fibre since long time. In general, the dual purpose linseed varieties bred in warm climates were inferior in fibre fineness than those in cold climates. Improved production techniques of dual purpose linseed for this region will certainly be helpful in changing the production status of linseed, which will not only increase the income of farmers but also help in employment generation for rural and urban masses along with smart earnings of foreign currency to improve agro socio-economy. A good crop of dual purpose linseed can be obtained by adopting Nagarkot, Jeevan and Him Alsi-2 varieties under irrigated situation (2-3 irrigation) during first fortnight of October using 40 kg seed/ha at row distance of 23 cm,

fertilizer application of 50:40:20 N:P2O5 and K2O along with need based plant-protection measures. Net monetary return (`/ha) and production economics of dual purpose linseed clearly revealed that the income of farmers can be doubled through the adoption of recommended agro- production technologies. Development of improved varieties having quality fiber with good seed yield, refinements in post-harvest technologies especially retting and scutching and suitable government policies are essential for the promotion of dual purpose linseed.

Key words: Farmers, Income, Himalayan region, Linseed

INSEED/Flax (Linum research under AICRP on Linseed, cholesterol, reducing inflammatory L usitatissimum L.) is one of the such varieties have been developed disorder like rheumatoids arthritis oldest crop plants cultivated for the which can yield good quality fibre as and providing immunity and cardio- purpose of oil and fibre. In India, it is well as seed. Such varieties have vascular benefits. Linseed is one of mainly cultivated as an annual rabi average height of 75 to 100 cm and the richest sources of lignin (800 oilseeds crop under input starved and technical height (height between times more than any other plant seed moisture stress situation. Depending ground to the point where first except sesame seeds 47 times more) upon use, linseed is classified into branch starts) of more than 50 cm which provides protection against three types. Varieties grown only for with more branches on the upper certain form of cancer due to seed/oil are known as seed type part of plant. In our country, linseed estrogenic and anti-estrogenic activity linseed, whereas, varieties yielding occupies 3.84 lakh ha area with a in the body. The use of different only fibre are known as flax. Varieties production of 1.54 lakh tonne and grades/form of fibre and seed (raw or grown for getting both seed and fibre contributes about 10.81% and oil) in different products is given in are called dual purpose linseed. The 5.31%, respectively to the global area Table 1. plant architect of all three types of and production. Despite development of nine dual linseed is different from each other. Recent advances in medical purpose varieties and standardization The seed type linseed is shorter with research have found linseed as best of agro-production technologies average height of 30 to 50 cm, multi- herbal source of Omega-3 and under AICRP on Linseed, flax fibre branched from the base with more Omega-6 fatty acids with immense production is yet to be number of capsules. The flax plant is nutritional/medicinal effect on commercialized and huge quantity of taller with average height of 100 to human body system. Essential linseed straw (4.75 lakh tonne 120 cm with very few branches at the Omega-3 fatty acid (ALA) plays an approx.) remains unutilized for fibre top of the plant. But with advent in important role in lowering extraction mainly due to lack of

Indian Farming January 2018 49 Table 1. Uses of different grades/form of fibre and seed (raw or oil) in different products lower temperature along with relative Textile industry Articles used in defence humidity of about 76% promotes the Linen and best quality clothes Parachute stalk height. Suiting shirting (blending with rayon Canvas and cotton) Strong threads for siewing Varieties Bedsheets, Curtains, Towel Selection of right variety and Paper industry Uses of coarse grades of fibres getting quality seed are essential to High grade paper Making twine and ropes obtain high yield. The best suited Stamp Paper Carpet/matting/Footmat dual purpose varieties for this region Parchment paper Tiles for making roof (Reinforcement Safety papers used for Currency notes material) are Jeewan, Nagarkot, Him Alsi-2. Bond paper, Air mail, Bible and other Good quality bags etc. high priced books and writing papers Decorative items Fertilizer application Rolling papers for cigarettes Geotextiles Recent studies under AICRP on Linseed oil (modified and chemically Raw and roasted seeds Linseed revealed that dual purpose treated) used in industry Value added edible products (Salted linseed and seed type linseed respond Paints and Varnishes whole linseed, Chutney, Baked products, equally to fertilizer application. Linoleum flooring Salad, mouth fresheners, Laddo, Burfi, Application of recommended dose of Oil cloth South Indian recipes etc.) linseed is helpful in realizing the full Polymer industries Omega -3 laden eggs Soft soap makings and packing potential of dual purpose linseed Finishing oil for leather and wooden furniture Linseed cake (Table 2). Lubricants and greases Feed for animals Plasticizers and pyrotechnic composition Organic manure Seed treatment Adhesive Treatment with Bavistin/Thiram Core oil lining Linseed mucilage @ 2.5 g/kg of seed before sowing for Printing and lithographic Ink Cosmetic Industry protection against seed borne and Wax shoe polishes Water soluble emulsifying agent, thickner and binder in food products soil-borne diseases. Oil in medicines Base for eye ointment Capsules Substitute for acacia gum Sowing Preparation of plywood glues First fortnight of October is ideal Filler in thermosetting resins for sowing, before the ambient temperature becomes too low and to infrastructure support for post- on Linseed. The improved affect germination of seeds. Delay in harvest processing i.e. retting and production techniques of dual sowing affect the seed and fibre yield fibre extraction from the retted straw. purpose linseed will certainly be adversely. Seeds @ 40 kg/ha are sown The demand of flax fibre for domestic helpful in changing the production in rows with row-to-row spacing of need is fulfilled through import status of linseed, which will about 23 cm at 2-3 cm depth. mainly from Belgium and the ultimately improve the economic Netherlands. The total import value status of the farmers of the region. Irrigation of all commodities (crude oil, seed, A minimum of two irrigations are fibre, yarn and fabrics) during 2016- Land preparation required i.e. the first at about 35 days 17 was 25.77 lakh crore against the The land should be ploughed 2 to after sowing and second at about 65 total export value of ` 18.52 lakh 3 times followed by 2 to 3 harrowing days after sowing for raising the good crore resulting in to overall trade for fine tilth. To conserve moisture, it crop of dual purpose linseed. deficit of ` 7.25 lakh crore. The is advisable to create soil mulch with However, third irrigation after utilization of fibre from dual purpose the help of hoe after each good completion of flowering can be linseed for textile purpose and other shower. The well drained, sandy loam given, if required and water is industries will not only increase the or silty clay loam soils having pH of available as the case may be. income of farmers but also help in 5.5 to 7.0 are suitable for its employment generation for rural and cultivation. Weed control urban masses along with smart Because of slow growth of linseed earnings of foreign currency to Climate during initial stages of crop and less improve agro-socio-economy. Dual purpose linseed for better leaf canopy, it competes poorly with fibre yield requires a cool humid mixed weed flora. It is necessary to Production technology climate with mild temperature keep the crop free from weeds for In view of fibre producing ability ranging from 10º C to 27º C, rainfall first 35 to 60 days after sowing. of dual purpose linseed without ranging from 155 to 200 mm and Manually two-hand weedings after affecting seed or oil yield, the agro- high midday humidity (60-65%) 4 and 7 weeks of sowing are techniques for production of dual during growing season. Drought and sufficient to keep the weed purpose linseed in Himachal Pradesh high temperature of about 320C population below threshold level. have been developed under AICRP during flowering reduce yield. The Chemically weeds can be controlled

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Rust Wilt Powdery mildew effectively with given herbicides Table 3. Weeds can be controlled by given herbicides (Table 3). Common name (a.i.) Dose of chemical Commercial Time of application The spray should be done with of herbicides (kg a.i./ha) dose/ ha knapsack sprayer fitted with flat fan Pendimethalin 30 EC 1.0 lt 3.33 lt Within 48 hr of sowing (Pre.) nozzle. The volume of water to be Isoproturon 75 WP 1.25 1.67 kg After 30-35 days of sowing (Post.) used for sraying must be 750 to 800 Clodinafop- 15 EC 0.060 400 g After 30-35 days of sowing liters/ha. propargyl (Post.)

Plant-protection linseed seedlings shortly after Harvesting Usually the incidence of insects emergence, while delayed infections It is important to harvest linseed and pest on this crop is almost cause yellowing and wilting of leaves, crop at optimum stage. It would be negligible. Sometimes minor followed by browning and death of advantageous to harvest the crop at incidence has been reported on plants. Roots of dead plants turn ashy yellow ripe stage of stem, when lower moderately resistant or susceptible grey. The tops of wilted plants often two-thirds portion of the stem is variety for particular disease in this turn downward and form a 'shepherd’s defoliated i.e. capsule maturity stage region. crook'. Affected plants occur more without loss of fibre as well as seed commonly in patches but may also be quality. Delayed harvesting promotes Rust scattered throughout the field. lignification which in turn impairs Symptoms: Rust is readily Control:(i) Use resistant varieties; the fibre quality. Harvest the crop recognized by the presence of bright and from ground level. orange and powdery pustules. Rust (ii) Treat the seed with Bavistin or pustules develop mostly on leaves, Thiram @ 2.5-3.0g/kg of seed before Deseeding but also on stems and bolls. Spread sowing. Make small bundles of the and infections are favoured by high harvested crop, thresh out the seed by humidity during cool nights, warmer Powdery mildew beating against hard surface or with day temperatures and on plants Symptoms: The symptoms are mallet (Mungari) and subsequently growing vigorously. As the season characterized by a white powdery plant stalks are cut into technical progresses, the orange pustules turn mass that start as small spots and height (height from ground level to black. The black pustules are most rapidly spread to cover the entire leaf first fruiting branch). common on stems. surface. Heavily infected leaves dry Control: (i) Use resistant varieties up, wither and die. Early infections Retting as discussed; and (ii) Spray 0.25% may cause complete defoliation of It is defined as the process of dithane Z-78/Indofil M-45. linseed plants. separating the embedded fibre from Control: (i) Use of resistant the linseed stem through partial Wilt varieties; and (ii) Spray Sulfex 0.25% rotting by immersion in water. This Symptoms: Early infections may kill in infected areas. retting is brought about by a complex enzyme action of microbes naturally Table 2. Recommended dose of fertilizer for dual purpose linseed present in retting water. Retting is a Nutrient Fertilizer Quantity of Time of application complex biological and biochemical (kg/ha) fertilizer (kg/ha) process and ranks as the single most N (50) Urea 110 Apply half dose of nitrogen and important factor governing the

P2O5 (40) Single Super Phosphate 250 full doses of phosphorus quality of fibre. Retting is best done K2O (20) Muriate of Potash 33 and potash at the time of sowing in clear, slowly flowing water. Hence or and rest half dose of nitrogen canal and even rivulets are best suited IFFCO (12:32:16) 125 after 3-4 weeks of sowing for retting. The depth of water Urea 76 should be sufficient to allow the stem Sulphur Elemental sulphur 20 bundles to float.

Indian Farming 52 January 2018 Retting tank Immersed stalks for retting Stalks dried in sun after retting

Alternative tanks, ponds or ditches may not be used repeatedly, completely free from the wooden part with at least a depth of 1.8 m are particularly if the water becomes of the stalk. used. When retting is done in too foul and dirty. stagnant water, the minimum ratio of (e) Over retting must be avoided. It Hackling plant material to irrigate water is better to get under retted straw In this process the scutched ûbres should be 1:20 by volume and pH which can be further retted again are combed in order to remove short should be around 6.0 to 7.5 to for complete retting. fibres, parallelize the long ûbres and ensure good results. The retting of Besides, a micro-organism Bacillus also the removal of any extraneous the stalk involves following subtilis has been identified for matter (shive). procedure: microbial retting for this region which Hackling is done by hand or (i) Keep out the cut dry stalk can be effectively used for decreasing through hackling machine. separately for its retting the retting time without affecting the • A wooden comb like instrument is (ii) Place the stalk bundles in retted fibre quality. Same procedure as done used for dressing or combing of the tank filled with water and leave it for water retting is followed for scutched fibre. for 3 to 4 days or may exceed microbial retting in which inoculum • The hackling machine takes lengths depending on the climatic of this bacteria is added for enhancing of scutched flax and combs them conditions and population density the retting process. between hank’s successively finer of micro-organism. If stalks are pins. The product of the hackling floating put some pressure Scutching process is called line fibre. It is (weight) on it so that stalks Now the stalks are ready for operated manually through remains submerged. scutching. The scutching is defined as pedalling. Short fibres and (iii) To check the completion of beating and scraping of the dried fragments of fibres separated during retting, take out the retted straw stems to separate the fibres. The fibre the scutching and hackling process from retting tank and press it is separated from retted stalks either are recovered and marketed as between for efinger and thumb. If by hand or by breaking and scutching scutch tow and machine tow the fibre is easily extracted with machinery. respectively. without break from stalk, it Manual: Take small bundle of indicates that retting is complete retted and dried stalk and beat it by Production economics or break the retted straw and pull hand mallet (mungri) on plane and Since profitability is the prime it backward. hard surface. Owing to this the concern of farmers, hence the Similarly, if fibre gets easily wooden part of the stalk will split out separated from stalk, it indicates for and resultant to this fibre which can completion of retting. be obtained easily. This type of (iv) Remove the retted stalks from scutching can be done at small-scale tank and wash them repeatedly rightly at farmers’ home. with fresh water, thereafter allow Mechanical: Small bundles of it for sun dry in open air. retted and dried stalks are placed on The important conditions to the feeder side of the machine and observe are: allow to run the machine (manually (a) The water should be clear and and power operated). The stalks get non-saline. ruptured and come out from the (b) The volume of water should be delivery side. Shake the ruptured stalk enough to allow the stem bundles by hand resulting in this fibre, which to float. will remain in hand and hard stick (c) When the bundles are immersed, split out. If the rupturing of the stalk they should not touch the bottom. is not completed in one time, repeat (d) The same retting tank or ditch the process again to get the fibre

Indian Farming January 2018 53 Electrical operated machine Manual Manual Scutching machine Hackling machine

Table 4. Production economics of seed type and dual purpose linseed at Himachal purpose linseed in north-western Pradesh Himalyan region. Also, in order to Input Seed type Dual Purpose make dual purpose linseed crop is No./Quantity Cost No./Quantity Cost more remunerative as well as Human Labour (mandays) 48 9,600 82 16,400 employment generating, the value Tractor power (hour) 10 4,250 10 4,250 addition properties of such varieties Seed (kg/ha) 40 1,800 40 1,800 with respect to industrial, medicinal Fertilizers (kg/ha) N50P40K20 3,620 N50P40K20 3,620 and textile uses need to be Irrigation (mandays) 8 1,600 12 2,400 emphasized and targeted. Processing Plant-protection (Rs./ha) 1 1,553 1 1,553 Electricity charges (units) 186 930 of such varieties for extracting fibre is Overhead charges 800 1,000 an extremely labour intensive process Cost of cultivation 23,223 31953 that can help in providing skilled and Yield (kg/ha) 1,200 (Seed) 54,000 1,075 (Seed) 48,375 unskilled employment. The 725 (Fibre) 72,500 government support to farmers by Linseed cake (kg/ha) 666 13,200 590 11,800 providing incentives for the Gross returns (`/ha) 67,200 132,675 installation of scutching machines Net returns (`/ha) 43,977 100,722 and construction of retting tanks for B:C ratio 2.89 4.15 adoption of such techniques and Note: Rate of seed= ` 45/kg, fibre= ` 100/kg and linseed cake= ` 20/kg

Performance of dual purpose linseed on farmers' fields economic analysis of the production showed that net monetary return further strengthening research of seed type and dual purpose linseed obtained from the dual purpose institutes to standardize the quality is computed on the basis of the feed linseed was quite higher (almost parameters for the grading of fibre back received from the farmers. double) than seed type linseed. Thus can certainly reduce the import bills Monetary advantage obtained by cultivating such crop through and paves the way for doubling the through cultivation of dual purpose adoption of suggested scientific ways income of farmers. linseed by adopting improved will surely uplift the economic status production technologies can be very of farmers of Himachal Pradesh. well accessed through comparison 1 SUMMARY Project Coordinator (Linseed), Indian Institute between seed type and dual type Pulses Research, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and linseed-based on the average yield, Because of favourable climatic 2Scientist (Agronomy), CSKHPKV Palampur, resources/input used and prevailing conditions there is ample scope for Corresponnding authors’ e mail: [email protected] price of inputs and produce. Table 4 exploiting full potential of dual

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