Linseed oil, besides being used as edible oil, is utilised in the manufacture of paints, printing ink, and varnish and water-proof fabrics. India with 12 per cent of world production occupies third place in linseed producing countries.
Conditions of Growth
Linseed is a Rabi crop which is sown in August-November and harvested in January-April. It is generally grown as mixed crop with wheat and gram etc. It requires 15° to 25°C of temperature, 75 cm to 150 cm of rainfall and deep black to khadar soils.
The average per hectare yield of linseed is 370 kg which has registered an increase of 42.31 per cent between 1950-51 and 2002-03. Nagaland records the highest per hectare yield (1125 kg/ha) followed by Bihar (634 kg), Assam (500 kg) and Uttar Pradesh (457 kg/ha). Chhattisgarh has the lowest per hectare yield (225 kg).
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Bihar (Gaya, Darbhanga, Purnea, Muzaffarpur, Saharsa, Bhagalpur, Champaran and Rohtas districts), Orissa (Sambalpur, Kalahandi, Dhenkanal and Ganjam districts), Karnataka (Gulbarga,Bijapur, Chitradurga and Bellary districts), Rajasthan (Kota, Bundi and Tonk districts), Assam , West Bengal (Nadia, Birbhum and Murshidabad districts), Andhra Pradesh (Medak, Adilabad, East and West Godavari and Karimnagar districts), and Punjab (Amritsar and Gurudaspur districts) states are other major producers of linseed in the country.
Trade
About one-third of the total production of the linseed is exported either in the form of linseed oil or oil-cakes. U.K., U.S.A. and Australia are the main importing countries.