Rapeseed

Rapeseed Brassica napus, also known as Rape, Oilseed Rape, Rapa, Rapaseed and (one particular cultivar) Canola, is a bright yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae. The name is derived through Old English from a term for turnip, rapum (see Brassica napobrassica, which may be considered a cultivar of Brassica napus). Some botanists include the closely related Brassica campestris within B. napus. (See Triangle of U)

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It is very widely cultivated throughout the world for the production of animal feed, vegetable oil for human consumption, and biodiesel; leading producers include the European Union, Canada, the United States, Australia, China and India. In India, it is grown on 13% of cropped land. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, rapeseed was the third leading source of vegetable oil in the world in 2000, after soybean and oil palm, and also the world's second leading source of protein meal, although only one-fifth of the production of the leading soybean meal. The FAO reports that 36 million tonnes of rapeseed was produced in 2003. In Europe, rapeseed is primarily cultivated for animal feed (due to its very high lipid and medium protein content), and is a leading option for Europeans to avoid importation of GMO products.

Cultivar: In botany, a cultivar is a cultivated selection that can be propagated reliably in a prescribed manner. This may be by seed, by grafting or it may be vegetatively propagated, i.e, be a clone. The word cultivar is a portmanteau coined from "cultivated" and "variety". Cultivars may be either particul...

Flower: :For the Second World War corvette class, see (s)....

Old English: Old English (Englisc, Anglisc, Ænglisc) or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily th...

Rapeseed related Images and Photos (experimental)

Threshing Rapeseed in the Fields of Lille