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Introduction White mustard is cultivated for seeds, for green manure as animal feed, for green fodder crop (Minkevics and Borkovszkij 1951) and for compost. Mustard seeds are mostly used for the preparation of spices, oil, french mustard, mustard pastes which is a common condiment in food industries (Szabo and Fodor 2005). Climate of Hungary is favourable for the cultivation of mustard. In spite of this little information exists on its fertilization, on its nutrient-uptake in the foreign (Asare Scarisbrick 1995, Singh 2004) and Hungarian (Kadar 2002, Fodor Kadlicsko 2006) scientific literature. Mineral nutrition, especially sulphur and nitrogen are major factors affecting growth, yield and quality of mustard (Singh 2004). Nitrogen and sulphur are necessary for the synthesis of amino acids, proteins and various other cellular components, including thiol compounds and the so-called secondary sulphur compounds, which have a significant bearing on protection of plants against stress and pests. In the present study, an attempt was made to investigate the effects of N and N:S ratios on the yield and nutrient uptake of mustard (Sinapis alba L.).

Changes in the amount of water soluble N-forms were really varied both with soil type and with treatments. It has been stated that the main proportion of water soluble N is in organic form that are considered as available substrate for microorganisms. On sand soil, which having low pH and low organic matter content, as a consequence of low microbial activity the organic N was intact to a greater extent than on chernozem soil.

Introduction Yellow mustard (Sinapis alba L.) is a annual spring crop and has been grown mainly in Europe since last century. Yellow mustard seed is suitable for a wide range of applications. It is grown for its seed, as a salad plant, as a green fodder crop or as green manure. Mustard seed is a nutritious food ingredient. Climate of Hungary is favourable for the cultivation of mustard. In spite of that little information exists on its fertilization, on the mechanism of its nutrient-uptake and its fertilizer activity in the international (Ahmad et al. 1998, Asare et al. 1995) and hungarian (EOry et al. 1996, K&d&r 2002) scientific literature. In the present study, an attempt was made to increase the amount of information for the effects of N supply and N/S ratio on the sulphur, nitrogen (crude protein), oil content and yield of seed.