2 Mulberry Cultivation

MULBERRY CULTIVATION Mulberry can be grown under different climatic and vide range of soil conditions. Higher yields of quality leaf which is a pre-requisite for the successful cocoon harvest is possible by adopting the following package of practices. Soil and climate Land preparation Spacing Variety and preparation of cuttings Planting Maintenance of garden Intercultural operations Manure and fertilizer schedule Leaf Harvest •

Type of Soil & Climate:

22 – 30 0C temperature, 1000-2000 mm rainfall and 65-80 percent humidity are optimum for luxuriant growth of mulberry. Deep, well drained, fertile soil of clayey loam to loamy texture is better suited for higher yield of quality mulberry leaf. If soils are acidic or alkaline they can be rectified by the application of lime or gypsum respectively. Red loamy soils are preferable for mulberry cultivation •

Land preparation:

Before the onset of monsoon, land should be ploughed deep ( 12” – 16”) followed by 2 – 3 light ploughings to bring the soil to a fine tilth and leveled. Add 20 tonnes of farm yard manure (FYM) per hectare and mix it with soil. •

Spacing: Prepare ridges and furrows at the distance of three feet 2’ x 2’ or 3’ x 3’

or paired Row system. •

Variety and preparation of cuttings:

Now a days many High yielding varieties have been available such as V1, S-series, M5 etc., which give higher leaf yield of better quality. Cuttings must be prepared from fully grown upto 6-8 months old shoots. Each cutting must be 7” –

8” in length, half an inch in diameter with 4-5 healthy buds. Ends of the cuttings must have clean cuts without damaging stem and peel off bark. •

Planting:

Planting must be taken up soon after the onset of South-West monsoon to take full advantage of following showers. Cuttings or saplings can be used for planting. Two cuttings should be planted at each spot along the margin of ridges. If saplings are used, one is enough and is to be planted in a trench of 8” – 9” depth. •

Mulberry Varieties

Most of the sericulturists are traditionally practicing local mulberry ( Mysore local) varieties for plantation which gives low leaf yield and the low quality. Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Mysore and Regional Sericultural Research Station, Anantapur District have evolved following High yielding mulberry varieties. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Ananta V-1 S13 S30 S36 S54

1. ANANTA: This high yielding mulberry variety developed at Regional Sericultural Research Station, Anantapur. It is drought resistant. Leaves are very big in size with light green in color. The leaves are succulent and good in quality. The leaves can be fed to both Chawkie and Late age silkworms. This is pest and disease resistant and yields more during summer. With 2’ X 2’ spacing, this variety gives around 65 to 70 tonnes of leaf per hectare per year. 2. M-5 or V-1 Variety. This hybrid variety is developed by Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Mysore with combination of S30 and Ber C 776. The nutritious dark green boat shaped leaves are thick and shiny in nature. The branches grow long and straight. When grown under irrigated condition with 2’ X 2’ spacing the leaf yields 55 tonnes per hectare per year. Convenient to feed all stages of silkworms. 3. S 13 Variety

This variety is drought resistant. The branches grow bushy and straight. The leaves are dark green in colour. When grown under irrigated condition, the leaf yields 48 tonnes per hectare per year. The leaves are succulent and good quality can be fed to both Chawkie and late age worms. S 30 Variety. The leaves are boat shaped, succulent, shiny and green in colour. Branches grow straight. When grown under irrigated condition the leaf yields 36 tonnes per hectare per year. The leaves can be conveniently fed to both Chawkie and late age silkworm. 4. S 36 Variety. The light green coloured leaves are big and succulent. The branches grow straight. Convenient to feed all stages of silkworms. When grown under irrigated condition the leaf yield will be 45 tonnes per hectare per year. 5. S 54 Variety. The leaves are dark green in colour, succulent and big. The branches are bushy and will not grow tall, hence wider spacing is required for plantation. When grown under irrigated condition the leaf yield will be 39 tonnes per hectare per year. Convenient to feed all stages of silkworms.

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Maintenance of garden :

1st year After 3 months of planting 50 kg N + 50 kg P + 50 Kg K per hectare should be applied in the form of complex fertilizer after weeding. Irrigate the plantation as and when necessary. 1st harvest can be taken 6 months after planting by leaf picking. Second dose of 50 Kg N/ha should be applied 3 weeks after 1st leaf harvest. Two more crops can be taken by leaf picking at an interval of 3 months. 2nd year onwards: Irrigation: Irrigate the field as follows a. Loamy soils – once in 10 days b. Clayey soils – once in 15 days. 1 ½ to 2 acre inch water should be provided per irrigation.

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Intercultural operations:

It should be done as and when necessary by manual digging and weeding. •

Manure and fertilizer schedule:

Farm Yard Manure must be applied in June / July following pruning. Chemical fertilizers should be applied 3 weeks after every pruning / leaf harvest as per the schedule given below. FYM Fertilizer 1st crop 2nd crop 3rd crop 4th crop 5th crop 6th crop

Shoot harvest 20 tonnes ha/yr doses in Kg/ha N-300 P-120 K-120 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60

Leaf plucking 20 tonnes/ha/yr. Doses in Kg/ha N-280 P-120 K-120 60 60 60 40 40 60 60 60 40 40

SCHEDULE OF OPERATIONS FOR MAINTENANCE OF MULBERRY GARDEN UNDER IRRIGATED CONDITION WITH SHOOT HARVEST SYSTEM.

Sl.No. 1

OPERATION 1 pruning combining harvest st

2

1st weeding and intercultivation

3 4

Application of FYM / compost 20 tonnes/ha and incorporation of the same 1st dose of fertilizer application

5 6

1st shoot harvest 2nd weeding and intercultivation

7

2nd dose of fertilizer application

TIMING With the commencement of South West mansoon rain ( Early June) Within a week after pruning ( 2nd week of June ) Within a fortnight after pruning (Mid June ) Within a month after pruning ( Early July ) By pruning ( Mid August ) Within a week of first harvest ( 2nd fortnight of August ) Within a month of first harvest (

nd

8 9

2 shoot harvest 3rd weeding and intercultivation

10

3rd dose of fertilizer application

11 12

3rd shoot harvest 4th weeding and intercultivation

13

4th dose of fertilizer application

14 15

4th shoot harvest 5th weeding and intercultivation

16

5th dose of fertilizer application

17

5th shoot harvest

Mid September ) By pruning ( Early November ) Within a week of 2nd harvest ( 2nd week of November ) Within a month of 2nd harvest (1st week of December ) By pruning ( Mid January ) Within a week of 3rd harvest ( 3rd week of January ) Within a month of 3d harvest ( Mid February ) By pruning ( Late March ) Within a week of 4th harvest ( 1st week of April ) Within a month of 4th harvest ( Late April ) By pruning ( Early June )

SCHEDULE OF OPERATIONS FOR MAINTENANCE OF MULBERRY GARDEN UNDER IRRIGATED CONDITION WITH LEAF HARVEST SYSTEM. OPERATION Sl.No. 1 1st bottom pruning 2

1st weeding and intercultivation

3 4

Application of FYM / compost 20 tonnes/ha and incorporation of the same 1st dose of fertilizer application

5 6

1st harvest of leaf 2nd weeding and intercultivation

7

2nd dose of fertilizer application

8 9

2nd harvest of leaf 3rd dose of fertilizer application

10 11

3rd harvest of leaf 2nd bottom pruning

12

3rd weeding and intercultivation

13

4th dose of fertilizer application

14 15

4th harvest of leaf 5th dose of fertilizer application

16

5th harvest of leaf

TIMING With the commencement of South West mansoon ( Early June) Within a week after pruning ( 2nd week of June ) Within a fortnight after pruning (3rd week of June ) Within a month after pruning ( Early July ) By leaf picking ( Mid August ) Within a week of first leaf harvest ( 3rd week of August ) Within three weeks of first leaf harvest ( 2nd week of September ) By leaf picking ( Early October Within 3 weeks of 2nd leaf harvest ( 4th week of October ) By leaf picking ( Late November ) Immediately after 3rd leaf harvest ( Late November ) Within a week after 2nd bottom pruning ( 1st week of December ) Within a month after 2nd pruning ( 3rd week of December ) By leaf picking ( Early February ) Within 3 weeks after 4th leaf harvest ( 4th week of February ) By leaf picking ( 1st week of April )

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CALENDAR OF CULTURAL OPERATIONS FOR CHAWKI MULBERRY GARDEN

Days 0 1-2

Operations Prune all the plants at 20-25 cm above the ground level Maintain 10-12 shoots per plant. Remove dead portion of the shoots Apply FYM @ 5MT/ha/crop and mix well with soil by digging or ploughing. Prepare ridge and furrow Irrigation Irrigation Apply chemical fertilizers NPK @ 32.5:17.5:17.5 kg/ha/crop. ( Ammonium Sulphate for N, Single Super Phosphate for P and Muriate of Potash for K) Irrigate immediately after application Irrigate at an interval of 4 days Spray “ Seriboost” 2.5ml/lt of water Remove week shoots Spray “ Seriboost” 2.5ml/lt of water Brushing and leaf harvesting Harvest leaf by picking and chawkie rearing Top clipping, shoot thinning, application of FYM @ 5MT/ha/crop digging, ridge furrow making and irrigation Apply FYM @ MT/ha/crop and mix well with soil by digging or ploughing Apply chemical fertilizer NPK @ 32.5:17.5:17.5 kg/ha/crop. ( Ammonium Sulphate for N, Single Super Phosphate for P and Muriate of Potash for K) Irrigate immediately after application Spray “ Seriboost” 2.5ml/lt of water Spray “ Seriboost” 2.5ml/lt of water Brushing Chawkie rearing by using shootlets.

3-4 5 6 10 14 18 25 28 32 35 36-45 46-48 48 51 60 67 72 73-78 •

TYPES OF LEAF HARVESTING TECHNIQUES

This can be done by two ways i)

Shoot Harvest : Individual leaves are plucked upto 3rd age of the worms . Thereafter shoot harvest can be done stepwise downwards.

ii)

Leaf plucking: In this method leaves are harvested by plucking throughout the year. 1st bottom pruning should be given after 3rd harvest i.e., in October/November and second after taking sixth crop in June / July..

In both the systems of harvest, it is necessary to maintain a stump height of 8” – 10” above the ground level. Pruning should be done with a sharp sickle / pruning saw without damaging the stem or bark.

Selection of Mulberry Seed – Mulberry is a perennial Plant and it gives leaf yield for a period of 10 to 15 years. Therefore it is desirable to select high yielding variety of mulberry such as V1, S-Series, M5 etc. Season for plantation – Plantation is to be taken up during June July months after the onset of monsoon. Irrigation – Irrigation is to be provided once in a week or 10 days depending on nature of the soil conditions. Recommended dosage of manure – Minimum of 20 Mt. / acre of farm yard manure is recommended. Recommended dosage of Chemical Fertilizers – 28 kgs of Nitrogen, 12 kgs of Potassium and 12 kgs of Phosphorus is recommended / acre to apply after every shoot harvesting. Separate Chawkie garden – To harvest good cocoon crop care should be taken during Chawkie silk worm rearing by feeding quality leaf. Therefore it is recommended to raise separate Chawkie garden of 10-20 cents with S-36 variety of mulberry. *** .