Technical and Yield Evaluation of Mechanized Rapeseed Transplanting in Khuzestan

The study was conducted to evaluate canola transplanting possibility and to compare this method with seeding method in Khuzestan province. In transplanting (TR) method, some 9 plants of 38-days old seedlings were transplanted in one m2. In seeding (SD) method, 6 kg/ha of canola seeds were planted in furrow and ridge pattern at a distance of 60 cm. The results showed that there were no significant difference between two methods of plantation from the point of view of  the yield, thousand- seeds weight, number of lateral stems, plant height, and the amount of extracted oil. Two-year average grain production in TR and SD were 2225.2 and 2391.8 kg/ha respectively. So, it can be concluded that Khuzestan province has the potential for canola TR, without any grain yield reduction, comparing to SD method. The results also showed that there was significant difference (P<0.01) between the treatments in terms of number of capsules per each lateral stem. More plant spacing cause to greater vegetative growth and then 64% more capsules per stem produced in TR as compared to SD. The diameter of main and lateral stems in TR method with 19.33 and 7.23 mm were 30 and 16.2 percent more than that of DS method respectively. Water use efficiency in TR and DS were calculated as 0.38 and 0.44 kg/m3 respectively. Benefit to cost ratio for one hectare of canola production in TR and DS were 0.98 and 3.02 respectively.