Pruning pastes for improved productivity in mulberry.

摘要

Mulberry under Kashmir conditions is resorted to bottom pruning during the first fortnight of June, coinciding with the Vth stage of silkworm rearing. The shoots are cut right from the crown base resulting in exudation of sap rich in nutrients through cut ends. Different pruning pastes were tested as wound dressing to find their efficacy in improvement of growth and yield in mulberry. All the pruning pastes in general have enhanced mulberry growth and yield. T1 (White stiff paint) exhibited the maximum effect, giving a yield of 5.090 Kg per plant which was significantly higher than the rest of the treatments viz. T2 (0.2% Copper oxichloride in white stiff paint) T3 (0.4% Copper oxichloride in white stiff paint) T4 (Lime and Copper sulphate in water) T5 (Copper sulphate and Sodium carbonate in water) and T6 (Copper carbonate and white stiff paint in linseed oil). However, T1 (white stiff paint), besides being beneficial was found to be most cost effective. Pruning is one of the important cultivation practices dealing with methodical removal of branches of a plant to sustain quality based high produce and is widely practiced in many plantation crops, including mulberry. In mulberry, pruning is done to adjust leaf production period to synchronize with leaf requirement for silkworm rearing and to extend the leaf production period with respect to season. Mulberry (Morus sp.), the only food to silkworm, under Kashmir conditions is pruned annually once during the first fortnight of June after the spring rearing is over. The shoots are cut right from the crown base and fed as such to the worms. The pruning is an important cultural operation in mulberry cultivation which improves the quality and quantity of leaf to optimize the utilization of foliage during rearing seasons (Kasiviswanathan et al., 1979, Juyal et al., 2003).