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Pre-breeding efforts to utilize two wild Morus species

Among the four species of mulberry available in India, Morus laevigata and M. serrata are wild and possess unique features of bigger leaf size, higher leaf moisture and moisture retention, higher protein and carbohydrate with greater adaptability to adverse climatic condition. In an effort to transfer these traits to cultivated species, inter-specific hybridization was effected between M. indica (var. Kanva-2) and M. laevigata as well as M. indica (var. Kajli) and M. serrata. The present communication reports the successful hybridization of mulberry involving wild and cultivated species. M. laevigata was collected from natural populations of Andaman Islands and M. serrata from northwestern Himalayan belt. After repeated trial of hybridization, successful F 1 seeds were obtained in both the crosses. The F 1 seeds were sown for. seedling and behaviour studies. The F 1 plant (M. indica x M. laevigata) showed better performance than the female parent in most of the characters, while it was better than male parent for a few characters. In another cross, the F 1 plant (M. indica × M. serrata) showed better performance than both parents for most of the characters. The crosses are expected to carry some genetic load, as the wild species were genetically and geographically distant and carry valuable genes.