Screening of mulberry germplasm against cutting rot disease

Mulberry (Morus Spp.) leaf is the sole food for silkworm (Bombyx mori. L). Mulberry is propagated through various methods viz., grafting, layering, cuttings and through seeds. The propagation through cuttings besides being quick, easy and cheap helps to produceb true to the type plants but one of the drawbacks for this type of propagation is that the cuttings are attacked by a variety of bacterial, viral, nematodal, and fungal pathogens which ultimately reduce their survival after plantation. The wounds inflicted during preparation of cuttings serve as an entry point to various soil borne pathogens causing Cutting rot, Collar rot, Die back diseases etc (Sharma, 2003). The cutting rot disease remains the main obstacle for the production of mulberry plants. The mulberry cuttings planted under the poly house and open field conditions suffer a considerable loss due to this disease caused by some soil borne pathogens and leads to great mortality. Out of the ten mulberry genotypes- Goshoerami, Ichinose, KNG, Kokuso-21, Chineese White, Brantul, Botatul, Ensatakasuke, Rokokuyaso and Kanva-2, three genotypes namely Kanva 2, Kokuso 21 and Rokokayoso showed resistance towards cutting rot pathogen, though the cuttings prepared from the apical portion of shoots of these genotypes showed moderate resistance.