Evaluation of mulberry varieties in summer season for propagation parameters

Nursery experiments were carried out at The Indian Agriculture College, Radhapuram, Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu during 2024-25 to envisage studies on the nursery propagation parameters of selected mulberry varieties. Eight mulberry varieties of Morus sp. were selected and collected from the Research Extension Centre, Central Silk Board, Samayanallur, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, were evaluated for propagation parameters under nursery conditions. Result indicated that in nursery growth performance for propagation parameters, among eight mulberry varieties viz., V1, AR 12, Lobed, G2, TN local, G4, MR2, MSG 2 - better survival percent (76.66%) recorded by AR 12 mulberry variety. It may be due to the fast growing and high rooting ability of AR 12 mulberry variety even under alkaline soils. Significant differences observed in the propagative traits of shoot length, number of roots, root length, survival percentage, number of leaves, number of buds sprouted in different mulberry varieties. AR 12 mulberry variety recorded highest number of leaves (5.00) longest shoot length (3.12), maximum number of buds sprouted (6.33), longest root length (2.96) compared to other mulberry varieties used.