The Mulberry tree’s botanical name is “Morus alba”. The feed silkworms are the primary use of leaves of mulberry. Moreover, the mulberry has a wide medicinal use, such as curing dizziness, making blood tonic, tinnitus, incontinence, constipation, etc. You can also use it for making fruit juice which is very popular in Japan, Korea and China. The Mulberry plant is popularly known as a perennial plant with a 40 to 60 feet average height. The flowers are densely arranged, which gives purple-black coloured fruits. Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh are India’s major mulberry growing states.
Process of Mulberry Cultivation
Starting commercial mulberry cultivation is easy and simple, just like growing other crops. Mulberry plants are very hardy and strong, and it is a perennial plant. When you grow any plant, you should well- know the various essential tractor equipment that would be useful for profitable cultivation. You can choose the Mahindra 575 tractor and any other in the farming operation.
Soil and Climate Requirement
Farmers can grow the mulberry on any land except on steep land. However, you can obtain good growth when raised on either undulating or flat land. You should have proper attention to soil conservation methods such as contour planting, bench terracing, and contour drains.
You can do the mulberry cultivation in a huge range of soil but can obtain the best growth in loamy to clayey loam soils. The mulberry plant can withstand a slightly acidic situation in the soil. In the case of very acidic soil with pH below 5, necessary corrective measures should adopt through dolomite. You should use the gypsum to improve the alkalinity of the soil in the case of alkaline soils. In addition, you should use soil that is sufficiently deep, up to about 2 feet in depth, because mulberry is a deep-rooted plant. Regarding altitude, mulberry grows well up to about 4,000 feet, with cooler temperatures causing above ground growth to slow down.
Land preparation for Mulberry Growth
Mulberry comes under the category of perennial crops. Once farmers grow it properly during the first year, it can reach full yield potential during the second year. And for more than 15 years without any significant decline in leaf yield lives. Generally, flat land is suitable for irrigated mulberry cultivation. However, if the slope is more than 15%, suitable land development measures like contour bunding, bench terracing etc. should adopted.
You should prepare the field through deep ploughing up to a depth of 30 to 40 cm in mulberry cultivation. The field prepares to loosen the soil and thereafter with a country plough or tractor to bring the soil to a fine tilth. You should remove the weeds and stones during the preparatory stage. We recommend an essential dose of farm manure at the rate of 20 tonnes per hectare, which has to thoroughly you can mix with the soil. Farms along highways and untreated effluents, waterlogged areas and tobacco-grown lands are not suitable locations for mulberry cultivation.
Selection of Variety for Mulberry Production
Variety selection criteria include soil fertility, water availability, area specificity, garden range, and problematic soils. The yield potential of suitable yielding varieties can be best realised in high fertility soils, and they respond to intensive irrigation. The size of the operation is large; a separate orchard for chawki rearing is recommended, apart from good yielding varieties for rearing late age insects.
The AR-12 variety is suitable in alkaline soils. An improved selection, K2, also known as M5, is an improved variety developed by the Institute, which responds well to manure and is capable of giving about 25% higher leaf yield. This variety does well in both dry and irrigated conditions. In terms of quality also, it is superior to the local variety of mulberry, and hence, you can use it with great advantage in mulberry cultivation.
Planting material and Plantation of Mulberry
You can do the plantation through sapling and cutting for mulberry cultivation. However, for better and quick establishment, saplings are always better than cutting as planting material. Farmers plant two cuttings/one sapling in the desired spacing at each spot. They plant the cutting keeping one bud exposed while you plant the sapling in pits open at the spot.
Raising of Saplings
Nursery beds with dimensions of 5m X 1.5m are prepared. The land is dug to a 30-40 cm depth, and the soil should be well pulverised. You apply the FYM at 15 kg per bed and mix well in the soil. Some amount of sand is also added to heavy soils to make the soil loose and friable. In contrast, some amount of tank silt or other well-decomposed organic matter is applied to sandy soils to increase water holding capacity. You should plant the cuttings in nursery beds with a spacing of 15 cm x 10 cm.
The entire length of the cutting push into the soil with only one bud above the ground. You should irrigate twice a week. In addition, you apply fertiliser @25:25:25 (N:P:K) kg per hectare after 5-6 weeks when the plants germinate well and establish the root system. You can use about 80-90 days old plants for planting in mulberry cultivation. When uprooting plants, they require utmost care to avoid damage to the root system.
Planting of Mulberry
The pit system is ideal for spacing 90 x 90 cm for planting mulberry. The pits of 35cm3 are dug and left for a month, then filled with FYM and soil in the ratio of 1:2. 35 cm x 35 cm trenches are also convenient for planting in mulberry cultivation. It is better to start growing in the rainy season.
In hilly areas, farmers plant 3 cuttings of length 20-22 cm at a distance of 15 cm in each pit. Cuttings that do not germinate in 4-5 weeks need to replaced by plants to ensure the required plant density.
Equipment Requirement
When you want to get information about mulberry cultivation, you should also know the equipment that will help to boost the yield. Cultivators, Tillers and tractors are crucial factors in mulberry farming. You can buy the Powertrac Euro 439 tractor and choose another best tractor brand models.
For further information regarding mulberry farming in India, stay tuned with us.