Host Plant Improvement & Production Section

SCIENTISTS:

1. Dr. K. Suresh, Scientist-C (Plant Breeding and Genetics)

2. Mr. Yallappa Harijan, Scientist-B (Plant Breeding and Genetics)

3. Dr. Deepika Kumar Umesh, Scientist-B (Plant Physiology)

Technical Staff :

1. Sri Tushar Ranjan Mukherjee, STA

2. Sri Bimal Chaudhuri, STA

3. Smt. Suparna Paul, STA

4. Sri Saumen Chatterjee, STA

5. Sri Amar Kumar Saha, STA

Labs :

1. Mulberry Breeding and Genetics Lab

2. Mulbery Physiology Lab

3. Agronomy Lab

4. Soil Science and Chemistry Lab

Mandates :

1. To conduct basic and strategic research on mulberry crop improvement for increasing and stabilizing foliage productivity.
2. To develop high yielding nutritive varieties, tolerant to biotic and abiotic stress and suitable for different agro- climatic conditions.
3. To develop eco-friendly, cost effective mulberry cultivation technology for higher resource use efficiency and increased productivity.
4. To conduct research on soil health and fertility management
5. To conserve core germplasm, undertake AICEM trials and popularize authorized varieties of the Eastern Zone.

PROJECTS:

Ongoing Projects
Sl No.	Project Code & Title	PI of the Project	Duration	Objective	Total Budget (in Lakh Rs)	Expected Outcome
1	PIB 02007 SI:  Improvement of mulberry leaf longevity in eastern & north eastern states of India	Dr. Deepika Ku. Um., Sci-B	June 2020 –  May 2024	1. To understand hormonal regulation of senescence in mulberry genotypes  2.To determine stay-green traits for improved mulberry leaf longevity	18.00	Formulation for improving mulberry leaf longevity along with yield and quality.
2	PPA 02005 SI: Optimization of spacing and nutrient dose for newly developed high yielding mulberry variety (C-2038) under irrigated condition	Dr. Yallappa Harijan	Oct. 2019- Sept. 2023	To find out the optimum spacing and level of fertilizer for higher leaf productivity and better leaf quality under irrigated condition for the high yielding mulberry variety, C-2038.	9.95	Package of practices for higher leaf productivity and quality in mulberry variety C-2038
3	PIB02010SI: Final yield trial of promising high yielding mulberry genotypes for Eastern and North-Eastern India	Dr. K. Suresh, Sci.-C	Feb, 2021 –  Jan , 2025	To evaluate improved mulberry genotypes for growth traits and leaf productivity To assess the leaf quality by biochemical and silkworm bioassay	11.30	High yielding mulberry genotypes suitable for irrigated and low rainfed conditions of E & NE states.
4	PIE 02002 SI:  Evaluation of performance of mulberry genotype C-9 under red and laterite soils.	Dr. K. Suresh, Sci.-C	July, 2019 to June, 2023	To assess the performance of c-9 under red & lateritic soils of Eastern and North-Eastern India	2.50	Mulberry variety for low input condition & Red - lateritic soils of E& NE India
COLLOBORATIVE PROJECTS
1	PRP 08 002 MI:: Identification of candidate genes based powdery mildew resistance for utilization in disease resistance breeding in mulberry. (Coll. with SBRL, Kodathi)	Dr. K. Suresh, Sci.-C	May 2019 to May 2022	1. To identify powdery mildew susceptibility genes Mildew Resistance Locus O (MLO) from mulberry. 2. To screen powdery mildew resistant mulberry genotypes for an association of non-functional mutation in the candidate MLO gene with disease resistance. 3. Validation of caps marker for chalcone synthase gene involved in powdery mildew resistance in diverse germplasm accessions/segregating progenies.	0.60	Establishment of experimental plot with for screening powdery mildew
2	PIE 13001 MI:  All India Co-ordinated Experimental Trial for Mulberry Varieties- Phase IV	Dr. K. Suresh, Sci-C	Apr, 2019 to Mar, 2025	To identify and authorize suitable mulberry varieties for commercial use in different agro-climatic mulberry cultivation zones of India	22.80	Mulberry varieties suitable for E & NE
Pilot Study
1	Development of mulberry crop schedule for optimal silk productivity in West Bengal	Dr. K. Suresh, Sci.-C	Nov 2019 – Oct 2020 (Extended upto Feb 2022)	To identify season-wise crop schedule in mulberry sericulture for West Bengal	-	Suitable Mulberry silkworm   Crop Schedule for higher leaf and cocoon yield in WB.
Transfer of Technology
On Field Trials
1	Popularization of Authorized Mulberry Varieties [C-2038, C-2028, Tr-23/BC259]	Dr. K. Suresh, Sci.-C	April 2021- March,2023	Popularization and demonstration of  new mulberry varieties among the farmers in E & NE India Assessment impact of new varieties in terms of leaf and cocoon productivity at farmers level.	28.80	Transfer of new mulberry varieties (C-2038, C-2028, Tr-23) from lab to land. Increasing leaf productivity at farmer field
On Station Trials
1	Low cost drip fertigation system for Mulberry	Dr. Yallappa Harijan, Sci.-B	October 2019- September. 2023	To find out the performance of low cost drip fertigation for mulberry at  different test centers	3.83	Low cost drip fertigation system for mulberry cultivation in E& NE states
2	Evaluation of high yielding & bacterial leaf spot resistant mulberry variety C-7	Dr. Deepika KU, Sci-B	June 2020 – May 2023	To validate the genotype C-7 for bacterial leaf spot resistance & leaf    biomass potential	0.96	Bacterial leaf spot resistant mulberry variety for humid subtropical region
3	Evaluation of High yielding and Low temperature stress tolerant C-01 and C-11	Dr. K. Suresh, Sci.-C	June 2021 – May 2024	To evaluate  C-01(C2060) and C-11(C2065) for early sprouting,   winter crop yield and  leaf productivity	1.60	High yielding  low temperature stress tolerant mulberry variety for colder areas of  subtropical region

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Concluded Projects
Sl No.	Project Code & Title	Duration	Objective	Achievement / Output	Utilisation status of the output
1	PIB 3610: Preliminary evaluation of newly evolved mulberry genotypes for mulberry      Improvement.	Jun, 2017 - May, 2020	Evaluation of improved lines for foliage biomass and associated agronomic traits under PYT. Qualitative assessment of superior lines through Biochemical, propagation and Silkworm moulting test for prospective commercial utilization	Identified three genotypes viz., PPY 8, PPY 10 and PPY 24 with     more than 20% higher leaf yield over C-2038 for irrigated region.	FYT of three promising genotypes in Eastern and North Eastern India
2	PIB 3576: Evaluation of new mulberry genotypes for improvement in productivity and   quality.	June, 2016 - July, 2020	To identify high yielding mulberry genotypes with early sprouting during winter month	C-01 & C-11 were identified as high yielding (> 56 t/ha/yr) over check S-1635 (42t/ha/yr).   Early sprouting (> 6 days) and high crop productivity during winter.	OST of mulberry bC-1(C2060) & C-11(C2065) in subtropical colder regions of India before commercial exploitation.
3	PIB 3627: Development of superior mulberry (Morus spp.) genotypes through polyclonal seed orchard.	June, 2018 – May, 2021	To establish Polyclonal seed orchard for creating enormous genetic variability. To identify promising mulberry seedlings for further utilization.	Establishment of Seed orchard (PSO) with divergent parents as source of PCH seeds. 461 desirable polycross hybrids were developed for improvement of yield and quality in mulberry.	Evaluation 461 PCH progenies for yield and quality. Maintenance of established   clonal seed orchard.

Equipments:

• Portable Leaf Area meter, Model LI-3000, LI-COR, USA.
• Chlorophyll Concentration Meter (Model: CCM-200)
• UV-Vis Spectrophotometer (Systronic)
• AS- Spectrophotometer
• Kjeldahl Unit
• pH  meter
• EC meter
• Microscope (Stereoscopic & Diaplan)

Mulberry Genetic Resources (CSR&TI, Berhampore West Bengal):

About 242 mulberry accessions with National accessions number (NBPGR) were maintained along with 200 elite clones and polyploidy (Annexures).

New Mulberry Varieties under Popularization

Variety	Leaf yield [MT/ha/yr]	Suitable agro climates	Year of authorization	Area covered (acres)
C-2038	53-54 (irrigated) 17-21 (Rainfed)	irrigated region	2017	25.50
Tr-23	11-12 (hills) 24-25 (foot hills)	Sub tropical hills	2017	0.50
C-2028	36-37	Water logged soils	-	35.00
C-776	25-26	Coastal saline soils	-	0.10