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Rapeseed
is mainly grown in the northern belt of India and its production heavily depends
on weather. The sowing normally takes place in Oct-Nov and harvesting in Feb-March.
The rapeseed is crushed to obtain oil and cake which is further sent to solvent
extraction for removal of residual oil and to obtain its meal. Rapeseed
meal is mainly used in animal feed and also as organic fertiliser.
The meal is preferred over oilcake due to its versatile use. The protein content
is normally 36%-38%. Canada & australia are also the major producers
and exporters of rapeseed and its meal. In Canada it is referred to as
Canola meal. In India rapeseed is also known as mustard seed. The main
export markets for Rapeseed meal of India are Bangladesh, South Korea, China,
Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
etc. In oilmeals export from India, rapeseed meal stands second to soybean meal
with volume of around 1 million tons (2006-07).
The rapeseed meal
prices mainly moves in the same direction as soybean meal for it is also
known as cheaper substitute to soymeal. | 
