<div>Background: The present study on the topic &ldquo;Phytomorphology and nutrient dynamics of mulberry leaves&rdquo; revealed high variability among mulberry varieties. Internodes were largest in variety Tr4 (6.06%). Actual leaf area was high in variety S146 (275.57 cm2). Numbers of leaves per meter branch was largest in variety S1531 (20.9). During 5 periodic sampling from sprouting to maturity average fresh and dry leaf weight of 100 leaves was high (197.93g) and (60.24g) respectively during 5th sampling. Average moisture content was high (83.41%) during 1st sampling highest average chlorophyll content (SPAD value) was also observed during 4th sampling (40.01%). Acidity was also high in variety Tr4 during maturity. Sugar content was high in variety T1 (3.66%) during 1st sampling (15 days). Starch and ash content was high in variety S1708 (43.06%) and (32.50%) during 5th sampling. Nitrogen and protein content was highest in variety S1608 (5.02%) and (31.56%) respectively during 1st sampling.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: In the field-laboratory investigation was conducted at Division of Sericulture,&nbsp;Division of Biochemistry and Plant Physiology, SKUAST-J, Chatha, during spring 2013. Ten mulberry varieties T1, Tr4, V1, S146, S1708, S799, S1608, S1531, S41 and Sujanpur were evaluated for phytomorphological and nutrient dynamic studies. The experiment was laid in complete randomized block design with three replicates. Each variety was taken as treatment and observations were recorded after 15 days interval upto 75th day after sprouting.&nbsp; 
 
Result: On the basis of current result, parameter observed fluctuations from the date of sprouting till maturity. Varietal response to periodic sampling too varied. Protein decreases age along with sugar, nitrogen. On the contrary starch, biomass, ash, chlorophyll shown a gradual increase. This information can be utilized to harvest a particular type of leaf for a particular age and rearing.</div>

<div>Phytomorphology and Nutrient Dynamics of Mulberry Leaf</div>

Mulberry leaf is a sole food of silkworm Bombyx mori on which it feeds and produces silk called mulberry or mori silk. Due to its quality, mori silk has huge demand in national and international market and earns a valuable foreign exchange for the country. Weeds are of great menace as they interfere with production and quality of mulberry leaf and also add significant amount to the cost of cultivation. The factors which are congenial for heavy weed growth in mulberry are continuous mono-cropping, wider spacing coupled with regular application of manures and fertilizers after each crop harvest for maintenance of plantation. The reduction in production and quality of leaf has direct correlation with production of cocoons and quality silk. If losses due to weeds can be reduced by half from present level of 30-40%, leaf yield of mulberry will increase by 9-12 MT ha-1 year-1 which can be utilized to produce 55-73.5 kg ha-1 year-1 more raw silk to enhance the silk production of country. The effective weed control involves identification of weed flora, method of weed control and judicious combination of effective weed control methods. Depending upon soil type, agro climatic and ecological conditions, the nature and intensity of weed flora, their competitiveness varies. A total of 57-141 weed species belongs to 28-44 families have been reported in mulberry field across the country. Manual weeding in mulberry is an age old practice in India, but it is a tedious, expensive and time consuming. Black polyethylene mulching alone has been found economically advantageous over manual weeding in mulberry plantation. However no single method viz., manual weeding, cover crop intercropping, herbicide and mulching found effective in weed control as compared to integrated method of weed control. Spraying of pre-emergence and early post emergence herbicides keeps the mulberry plantation in weed free conditions during the early stages. At later stage, when second flush of weeds attains peak after 30 days of pruning, spraying of herbicide is not possible due to chance of residual toxicity to the silkworm. Integration of pre herbicide followed by manual weeding at later stage or integration of hand weeding after pruning followed by either cover crop intercropping or mulching may helps to reduce damage due to weed, prevent silkworm from residual toxicity of herbicide and reduces manual weeding cost to some extent. Hence a brief review was presented to find out the influence of different weed management method in mulberry.

Weed Management in Mulberry (Morus alba): A Review

<div style="text-align:justify">Background: Root knot disease caused by the nematode Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White) Chit wood is a serious problem in mulberry and causes severe damage to growth and development of plants.&nbsp; Root knot nematode alter or depletes nutritional values of mulberry leaves and adversely affects to the silkworm health in turn decreases cocoon quality and quantity. The anatomical changes in the roots due to nematode infestation affects the cocoon crop negatively, because&nbsp; mulberry leaves main food source for silkworm Bombyx mori L. ultimately leads to economic loss in silk industry. 
 
Methods: Hence the present study has been taken up to understand the histopathological changes that occur in the roots of mulberry&nbsp; V1 variety plants infested with nematode Meloidogyne incognita studied under the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with an interval of 15 and 60 days after nematode inoculation. 
 
Result: After fifteen days the root samples have shown thick starchy grains were accumulated in the parenchymatous cells and intracellular movement of juveniles. Sixty days after the infested root samples had shown a number of large sized galls or knots. Ultra- structural observation of the root gall cross sections under scanning electron microscope revealed that serious anatomical changes occur in the infested mulberry root tissues.</div>

Histopathological Studies of Mulberry Roots Infested by Meloidogyne incognita (Sem Analysis)

<div style="text-align: justify;">The present study assesses the feasibility of noni and mulberry as a raw substrate for the production of probiotic noni and mulberry juice by lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus plantarum SK-3 and Pediococcus acidilactici M-3). Changes in pH, titratable acidity (lactic acid), cell survival, and antioxidant properties were examined during fermentation. Both the strains grew well in noni juice and mulberry juice after 48 hour fermentation. P. acidilactici M-3 produced less lactic acid than L. plantarum SK-3. After 28 days of cold storage, both tested strains survived the low-pH conditions in fermented noni juice and mulberry juice. Both the juices fermented with L. plantarum SK-3 had a high antioxidant capacity. The noni and mulberry juice fermented with L. plantarum SK-3 had shown the cholesterol-lowering ability better than the juices fermented with P. acidilactici M-3. Finally, L. plantarum SK-3 and P. acidilactici M-3 were found as optimal probiotics for fermentation with noni juice as well as mulberry juice. In this investigation, the results could be an indicator of the development of health-promoting food juices.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Probiotic Potential of Noni and Mulberry Juice Fermented with Lactic Acid Bacteria</div>

Background: Leaf webber Diaphania pulverulentalis is identified as one of the major pest which infests mulberry gardens and cause damage to mulberry growth and development and reduced nutritive levels in leaves. As mulberry is the prime food source of silkworm Bombyx mori L. the leaf webber infested leaves fed to the silkworm shows greater impact on the yield of, cocoon both quantity and quality. Hence, the present investigation was carried out to understand the impact of leaf webber infestation on various popular mulberry varieties and on silkworm growth and cocoon yield.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
Methods: The study was conducted in selected ten mandals of Anantapuramu district, Andhra Pradesh during 2016-2019. The infested leaves were collected randomly form each mulberry garden and the same were analysed for various parameters like&nbsp;growth and development and biochemical parameters and silkworm bioassay. And analysed as per standard operating proceures.&nbsp; 
 
Result: Photosynthetic pigments of&nbsp; leaf webber infested mulberry leaves. i.e total chlorophylls in selected three mulberry varieties are decreased by an average of&nbsp;40.17% and followed by carotenoids with a average decrease&nbsp;of 40.85%. Biomolecule components mainly proteins in selected varieties found to be decreased with the average percentage of 24.62 and carbohydrates and starch decreased with the average percentage of&nbsp;47.09% 16.09% respectively. but in the phenols are increased with the average percentage of 57.39%, when compared with control (7.61%).

Studies on the Impact of Leaf Webber Diaphania pulverulentalis on Different Mulberry Varieties and Silkworm Bombyx mori L.

<div style="text-align:justify">Background: Morus macroura Miq. is a potential tree species belonging to the Mulberry group, and consider as flora identity of West Sumatra Province with local name is Andalas. This germplasm tropical tree species utilize widely by local West Sumatran people for various purposes such as wood material to construct the traditional house of ethnic Minangkabau and medicinal substance for multiple diseases. However, the population numbers of this species were decreased and rare due to overexploitation without effort for planting. Based on this reason, it is imperative to conserve and utilize sustainable Mulberry. There is a highlight confusion to clarify that M. macroura from Sumatra population similar to Himalayan Mulberry. For this reason, it is essential to define the crucial local M. macroura from Sumatra (Sumatran Mulberry) for its conservation and sustainable utilization. &nbsp; Methods: In this study, the leaves from seven individuals of M. macroura collected from West Sumatra were used for DNA extraction and processed to the next step of the analysis. Four individuals of Himalayan Mulberry and both of two out-group, White Mulberry (M. alba), and Black Mulberry (M. nigra) were used in this study. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was performed using two ITS markers (ITS5-F and ITS4-R) with an annealing temperature of 55oC. The PCR products were purified and sequenced by Macrogen USA DNA Sequencing. The phyllogenetic relationship between seven accessions and two of out-group (M. alba and M. nigra) were analyzed using the MEGA6 program. &nbsp; Result: The result indicated that all of the accessions M. macroura from Sumatra were grouped into the same cluster and separated to the Himalayan Mulberry group. The differentiation between Sumatran Mulberry and other Mulberry reflected in morphological and haplotype differentiation indicated that the Sumatran Mulberry as the different group and suggested as a variety with scientific name is M. macroura Miq. var. macroura. This clarification is useful for conservation and sustainable utilization of this variety, a specific Mulberry from Sumatra.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Clarification of Sumatran Mulberry (Morus macroura var. macroura, Moraceae) from West Sumatra, Indonesia using Nucleus Ribosomal ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) Gene</div>

<div>This research evaluated the effects of mulberry leaf in diet on growth and meat quality in rabbits. Five treatment diets were prepared by using a proportion of 0% (CK), 5% (ML5), 10% (ML10), 15% (ML15) and 20% (ML20) mulberry leaf powder (MLP), respectively. Results showed that average daily gain (ADG) in the ML20 group was significantly (P&pound; 0.05) lower than that in the CK, ML5 and ML10 treatments. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the ML20 treatment was significantly (P&pound; 0.05) higher than that in all other treatments. Most of the carcass characteristics had no significant differences among the five treatments (P&gt;0.05), however, abdominal fat percentage in the four MLP treatments was significantly (P&pound; 0.05) lower than that in the CK. The L* and a* values in most of MLP treatment samples of longissimus dorsi and hind leg muscles were significantly increased, and the b* value significantly declined than those in the CK (P&pound; 0.05). Drip loss values in the ML10, ML15 and ML20 group were significantly (P&pound; 0.05) lower than those in the CK. Moisture, fat and ash contents in the higher MLP level treatments (ML15 and ML20) were significantly (P&pound; 0.05) lower than those in the CK. In conclusion, MLP for a certain proportion in diet (&pound; 15%)is greatly valuable for improvement of growth and meat appearance of rabbits, and a high proportion of MLP (e.g. &sup3; 20%) may impede growth of young rabbits.&nbsp;</div>

<div>Effects of dietary supplement of mulberry leaf (Morus alba) on growth and meat quality in rabbits</div>

<div style="text-align:justify">Background: The root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita Chit wood infesting mulberry is economically important in silk industry as it affects the leaf yield both quantitatively and qualitatively which in turn affects the silkworm Bombyx mori L., growth and cocoon yield because its foliage is the sole food source of silkworm. 
 
Methods: Hence a pot experiment was conducted for the evaluation of efficacy of eco-friendly formulate like botanical extract from Passiflora foetida L., to manage nematode disease severity applied as soil amendment and aqueous leaf extract on nematode egg hatching.&nbsp; 
 
Result: After treatment, nematode infestation reduced significantly in terms of number of root knots/ g root weight and nematode egg masses / g root weight in mulberry plants and the treated plants showed better growth in shoot and root length compared to control plants. The aqueous extract of P. foetida showed maximum inhibition of egg hatchability with an increase in the concentration of plant extract.</div>

Management of Root-knot Nematode Meloidogyne incognita on Mulberry with Passiflora foetida

<div>Background: Himachal Pradesh is one of the important apple producing state in India and a substantial quantity of apple fruit is utilized in processing for the preparation of juice and the left-over apple pomace remains a pollutant owing to the un-hygienic nature of apple pomace and its quick bio-degradability. Only a small fraction of apple pomace is traditionally being utilized in animal feeding due to the rapid spoilage of the wet pomace. The utilization of apple pomace in animal feeding remains a challenge and thus an attempt was made to ensile the maize through incorporation of apple pomace.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: The study was conducted to evaluate the nutritive value of maize silage incorporated with different levels of apple pomace and to study the effect of feeding silage on milk performance of crossbred cows. In the experiment apple pomace was incorporated in maize silage at 10, 20 and 30 per cent level.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
Result: On studying the proximate composition of different silage it was found that silage (T3) containing 80 per cent maize, 10 per cent apple pomace and 10 per cent mulberry leaves showed promising results. In T3 the proximate principles viz. dry matter, crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract, neutral detergent fibre acid detergent fibre, total ash, acid insoluble ash and pH were in ideal range and was at par with the silage formed by ensiling of sole maize crop. In the animal feeding trial, on feeding of apple pomace based maize silage 10.21 per cent higher milk yield was recorded with significantly higher milk fat, SNF and proteins. The net return on feeding of apple pomace based maize silage to crossbred cows was ₹ 149.00 which was higher than the control group (₹143.00 cow-1 day-1).</div>

​​Qualitative Analysis of Apple Pomace based Maize Silage for Animal Feeding

<div>Weather and climatological studies offers great scope for strengthening the agricultural production science temperature, humidity, photoperiod and rainfall are the key factors deciding the ultimate fate of any crop including sericulture. Mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing the two most important aspects of sericulture and both depends on environmental factors for successful harvest of cocoon crop, the ultimate product of silk industry. Various agencies like weather forecasting and meteorological department keeps an eye on the upcoming weather events for providing necessary advisory services to the farmers for making precautionary measures in order to avoid the risk of crop failure and wastage of resources. Timely information about rainfall pattern helps the farmers to decide the time of field operations and post harvest activities. In sericulture, role of environmental conditions for both mulberry and silkworm is of utmost importance and contributes 37.8% for successful cocoon crop. Cocoon crop productivity declines considerably due to slight fluctuations in temperature and humidity. Scientific knowledge therefore helps to cope up with such adervisities. Meteorological forecasting thus opens new avenues in the field of sericulture for pre planning and successful execution of silkworm crop. Therefore, an attempt has been made to present an elaborative context of meteorological studies for accelerating success rate of sericulture crop productivity at commercial level.</div>