Topping In Canola: An Effective Technique to Overcome Production Constraints.

During the last few decades, edible oil sector has become the single largest component of agriculture in Pakistan for its import-bill. We can save large amount of foreign exchange by adopting strategies that can address the core issues of this sector. Studies were conducted to increase the production of canola through adopting different managerial practices. As a part of that an experiment was conducted to find out the suitable time of topping for different canola hybrids at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Treatments comprised of a control (No topping), topping at different stages (30, 45 and 60days after sowing) and canola hybrids (Hyola-401, Omega I and Omega III). Maximum number of seeds per plant and primary branches were observed in Omega I where topping was done at 30 and 45 days after sowing while more inter nodal distance was found in Hyola-401 when topped at 30 and 60 days after sowing. Number of secondary branches was higher in Hyola-401 and Omega I when topped at 30, 45 and 60 days after sowing. Plant height at maturity was more in Omega I where topping was not executed. Number of siliquae per plant were more in all hybrids at all topping dates. Siliqua length was higher in Omeg III where plants were not topped and in those plants where topping was performed at 30 days after sowing. 1000-seed weight was more where topping was done in all hybrids as compared to no topping