Oilseed

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SESAME (Sesamum indicum)

Sesame or "til" is the most ancient crop being cultivated in the sub-continent. Its seeds contain between 50 and 58% semi-drying oil. Oil is used as foods (cooking and salad), medicine and soap manufacturing etc. Its seeds and young leaves are eaten as stews.

According to FAO estimates, Honduras and Egypt are the leading countries producing yield of 1267 and 1063 kg/ha, respectively

It has been proved in the country and abroad that the yield potential of the "til" cultivars is upto 2000 kg/ha. Therefore, the farmers must increase the area under this crop and adopt below mentioned technology recommendations to boost per unit area productivity of sesame in the Pakistan.

Area, production and average yield of sesame in Pakistan

Year	Area (000 ha)	Production (000 tones)	Yield (kg/ha)
1951-60	25.30	6.50	264
1961-70	30.64	8.20	274
1971-80	33.99	12.79	375
1981-90	32.35	12.75	395
1991-00	78.60	34.70	440
2000-01	101.00	50.70	502
2001-02	135.60	69.60	513
2002-03*	87.90	19.20	219
2003-04	59.70	24.70	413
2004-05	66.5	29.8	448

Source: Agri. Statistics of Pakistan, 2004-05 *Disease havoc

Graphic Presentation of sesame area, production and yield during 2004-05

Source: Agric. Statistics of Pakistan 2004-05

IMPROVED PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY

Soil:	Light sandy and medium loam acid free soils are more suitable
Seedbed Preparation:	2-3 ploughings with1-2 planking
Planting Time:	Punjab	1^st July to 31^st July
	Sindh	15^th June to 15^th July
	NWFP	15^th June to 31^st July
	Balochistan	1^st July to 31^st July
Seed Rate:
	Line sowing	5 kg/ha (2 kg per acre)
	Broadcasting	8 kg/ha (3 kg per acre)
Method of Planting	Row to row distance 45 cm
	Plant to plant distance 10 cm
	Seed depth 2 to 2.5 cm.
Fertilizer:	Nitrogen	50 kg/ha
	Phosphorus	60 kg/ha
Irrigations:	3-4 irrigation at 15-20 days after sowing
	Second irrigation 30-40 DAS.
	Third irrigation at the time of flowering
Thinning and Hoeing	After 10-15 days single out the weak and diseases plants
	by keeping 10 cm spacing between plants
	Two hoeings: 15-20 days and 30 days after germination.
Harvesting:	Sesame crop matures in about 100-=120 days.
	Harvest when 75 % capsules mature and turn yellow
	Stack the bundles keeping the pods upward
Threshing:	Dry for one week and then collect the seed just by inverting the plants
Potential Areas:
Punjab	= Gujrat, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Attock, Bhakkar, Faisalabad,
Sindh	= Tharparkar, Dadu, Hyderabad
NWFP	= Kohat, D.I. Khan
Balochistan	= Nasirabad, Lasbela

DISEASES OF SESAME

The followings are the major diseases in sesame:

Charcoal rot
Alternaria leaf spot
Bacterial leaf spot
Bacterial blight
Phyllody
Root wilting

Control Measures
The diseases management programme should include the following methods:

Use healthy seed of resistant varieties
Prior to sowing, treat the seed with one of the systemic fungicides, (captafol, Therain, Dithane M-45 and Benlate) @ 2-3 gm/kg of seed to protect from fungal diseases.
Use proper cultural practices (rotation and tillage)
spray the crop with captafol, Dithane- M45 @ 1 kg/acre in 100 liter of water and Tecto and Benlate @ 500 gm/acre after 10-15 days interval for bacterial disease, spray streptocycline @ 0.3 gm in 100 liters (25 gallon) of water/ha. Treat the seeds before planting with antibiotics (streptomycin @ 100 ppm).

Major Insects
In general sesame is not damaged by insects. However, the main insects of sesame crops as under:

Whitefly - Leaf roller
Til gallfly - Til Hawk moth

Chemical Control
For the control of larvae of leaf roller, till hawk moth, whitefly and leaf hopper, spray Dimecron 100 % @ 200 to 250 ml/acre or Methyl Parathion @ 350 to 500 m/acre or Somicidin 20 EC @ 250 ml/acre or Karate @ 250-300 ml/acre mixed in 100 to 150 liters of water at 10-15 days interval, two times in case the attack is sever. In case of cutworms, spray with Lorsban @ 400 ml ai/acre, Sevin @ 800 gm ai/acre or Sumicidin @ 120 ml ai/acre.

Resource Person:

Dr. Muhammad Yasin Mirza, SSO

dryasinmirza54@yahoo.com
dryasinmirza@hotmail.com

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[Last updated: April 18, 2007]

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