PESHAWAR, Sept 28: The NWFP Provincial Seed Council has approved a new variety of mustard called Nifa-Raya and recommended it for general cultivation in the province.

Nifa-Raya is the ninth variety of mustard developed by the nuclear institute for food and agriculture. "The Nifa-Raya is a high-yielding variety of canola quality mustard as it is extremely helpful in increasing the edible oil production in the country," Nifa Principal Scientific Officer Dr Syed Anwar Shah told APP here on Monday.

He said the production of edible oil production in the country was 70 per cent short of need and this demand was being through imports costing the national exchequer over Rs24 billion annually.

Increasing domestic production of edible oil, he said, was the top priority of the government and it was in this backdrop that a comprehensive research programme was launched at Nifa to develop improved varieties of mustard.

About the new variety, he said, it was developed by irradiating seeds of a double low exotic mustard (Brassica Juncea) line, DLJ-3, at 1.40 KGY gamma rays in 1994-95 followed by selection and a thorough evaluation at Nifa and under diversified climates at various stations of the country.

Dr Shah further said that the potential yield of this variety was over 2.3 tons per hectare compared to the present average yield of 0.8 tons. He said the Council had recommended that the variety for normal Rabi planting in irrigated as well as rain-fed areas could be made. -APP