<div>Background: Health of soil is important being an integral part of any production system. As agroforestry aims to maintain the sustainability in the system, therefore, soil status under any agroforestry system plays key role. This study was conducted at Department of Silviculture and Agroforestry, Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni-Solan HP (India) under Morus based agroforestry system. 
 
Methods: The present investigation was carried out during 2016 from month of July to October for quantifying the effect of application of organic manures on soil physico-chemical properties under Morus based agroforestry system. Five soil samples from each experimental plot were collected separately and a single representative composite sample was drawn for each plot replicated three times. The analysis of soil was carried out with standard adopted procedures. 
 
Result: Findings of the study revealed that different organic manure combinations were having significant influence on various soil physico-chemical properties. Maximum improvement in terms of soil physico-chemical parameters was found for the application of 100% poultry manure. Further, soil properties were found to be better under the influence of tree canopy as compared to open condition suggesting key role of trees in improving soil properties.</div>

Influence of Organic Manures on Soil Physico-chemical Properties under Morus based Agrisilviculture System

<div style="text-align:justify">Background: Morus macroura Miq. is a potential tree species belonging to the Mulberry group, and consider as flora identity of West Sumatra Province with local name is Andalas. This germplasm tropical tree species utilize widely by local West Sumatran people for various purposes such as wood material to construct the traditional house of ethnic Minangkabau and medicinal substance for multiple diseases. However, the population numbers of this species were decreased and rare due to overexploitation without effort for planting. Based on this reason, it is imperative to conserve and utilize sustainable Mulberry. There is a highlight confusion to clarify that M. macroura from Sumatra population similar to Himalayan Mulberry. For this reason, it is essential to define the crucial local M. macroura from Sumatra (Sumatran Mulberry) for its conservation and sustainable utilization. &nbsp; Methods: In this study, the leaves from seven individuals of M. macroura collected from West Sumatra were used for DNA extraction and processed to the next step of the analysis. Four individuals of Himalayan Mulberry and both of two out-group, White Mulberry (M. alba), and Black Mulberry (M. nigra) were used in this study. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification was performed using two ITS markers (ITS5-F and ITS4-R) with an annealing temperature of 55oC. The PCR products were purified and sequenced by Macrogen USA DNA Sequencing. The phyllogenetic relationship between seven accessions and two of out-group (M. alba and M. nigra) were analyzed using the MEGA6 program. &nbsp; Result: The result indicated that all of the accessions M. macroura from Sumatra were grouped into the same cluster and separated to the Himalayan Mulberry group. The differentiation between Sumatran Mulberry and other Mulberry reflected in morphological and haplotype differentiation indicated that the Sumatran Mulberry as the different group and suggested as a variety with scientific name is M. macroura Miq. var. macroura. This clarification is useful for conservation and sustainable utilization of this variety, a specific Mulberry from Sumatra.</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Clarification of Sumatran Mulberry (Morus macroura var. macroura, Moraceae) from West Sumatra, Indonesia using Nucleus Ribosomal ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) Gene</div>

Mulberry leaf is a sole food of silkworm Bombyx mori on which it feeds and produces silk called mulberry or mori silk. Due to its quality, mori silk has huge demand in national and international market and earns a valuable foreign exchange for the country. Weeds are of great menace as they interfere with production and quality of mulberry leaf and also add significant amount to the cost of cultivation. The factors which are congenial for heavy weed growth in mulberry are continuous mono-cropping, wider spacing coupled with regular application of manures and fertilizers after each crop harvest for maintenance of plantation. The reduction in production and quality of leaf has direct correlation with production of cocoons and quality silk. If losses due to weeds can be reduced by half from present level of 30-40%, leaf yield of mulberry will increase by 9-12 MT ha-1 year-1 which can be utilized to produce 55-73.5 kg ha-1 year-1 more raw silk to enhance the silk production of country. The effective weed control involves identification of weed flora, method of weed control and judicious combination of effective weed control methods. Depending upon soil type, agro climatic and ecological conditions, the nature and intensity of weed flora, their competitiveness varies. A total of 57-141 weed species belongs to 28-44 families have been reported in mulberry field across the country. Manual weeding in mulberry is an age old practice in India, but it is a tedious, expensive and time consuming. Black polyethylene mulching alone has been found economically advantageous over manual weeding in mulberry plantation. However no single method viz., manual weeding, cover crop intercropping, herbicide and mulching found effective in weed control as compared to integrated method of weed control. Spraying of pre-emergence and early post emergence herbicides keeps the mulberry plantation in weed free conditions during the early stages. At later stage, when second flush of weeds attains peak after 30 days of pruning, spraying of herbicide is not possible due to chance of residual toxicity to the silkworm. Integration of pre herbicide followed by manual weeding at later stage or integration of hand weeding after pruning followed by either cover crop intercropping or mulching may helps to reduce damage due to weed, prevent silkworm from residual toxicity of herbicide and reduces manual weeding cost to some extent. Hence a brief review was presented to find out the influence of different weed management method in mulberry.

Weed Management in Mulberry (Morus alba): A Review

<div>This research evaluated the effects of mulberry leaf in diet on growth and meat quality in rabbits. Five treatment diets were prepared by using a proportion of 0% (CK), 5% (ML5), 10% (ML10), 15% (ML15) and 20% (ML20) mulberry leaf powder (MLP), respectively. Results showed that average daily gain (ADG) in the ML20 group was significantly (P&pound; 0.05) lower than that in the CK, ML5 and ML10 treatments. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the ML20 treatment was significantly (P&pound; 0.05) higher than that in all other treatments. Most of the carcass characteristics had no significant differences among the five treatments (P&gt;0.05), however, abdominal fat percentage in the four MLP treatments was significantly (P&pound; 0.05) lower than that in the CK. The L* and a* values in most of MLP treatment samples of longissimus dorsi and hind leg muscles were significantly increased, and the b* value significantly declined than those in the CK (P&pound; 0.05). Drip loss values in the ML10, ML15 and ML20 group were significantly (P&pound; 0.05) lower than those in the CK. Moisture, fat and ash contents in the higher MLP level treatments (ML15 and ML20) were significantly (P&pound; 0.05) lower than those in the CK. In conclusion, MLP for a certain proportion in diet (&pound; 15%)is greatly valuable for improvement of growth and meat appearance of rabbits, and a high proportion of MLP (e.g. &sup3; 20%) may impede growth of young rabbits.&nbsp;</div>

<div>Effects of dietary supplement of mulberry leaf (Morus alba) on growth and meat quality in rabbits</div>

Background: The increasing incidence of fungal phytopathogens poses a serious threat to the balance of our ecosystem. While chemical fungicides are commonly used for disease control, their excessive application leads to environmental contamination, the development of resistant pathogen strains and the disruption of beneficial soil microbiota. This has intensified the search for eco-friendly and sustainable biocontrol alternatives. 
&nbsp; 
Methods: In the present study, phytopathogenic fungi Penicillium citrinum, Bipolaris sorokiniana and Alternaria alternata were isolated from diseased Morus alba and Melia azedarach. Simultaneously, rare and underexplored non-pathogenic fungi, Purpureocillium sodanum, Talaromyces pinophilus and Aspergillus ochraceopetaliformis were isolated from the rhizospheric soil of healthy Morus alba trees growing near the Bhakhra riverbank. Fungal identification was conducted based on colony morphology, microscopic features and molecular analysis using 18S rRNA sequencing. The antagonistic potential of these non-pathogenic isolates was evaluated in vitro using dual culture assays against the phytopathogenic fungi. 
&nbsp; 
Result: Dual culture assays revealed significant antagonistic effects, with inhibition percentages ranging from 33.3% to 85.7%. Among the isolates, P. sodanum showed the highest inhibition (85.7%) against A. alternata, surpassing the commonly reported efficacy of standard Trichoderma strains. Enzymatic assays further indicated the production of hydrolytic enzymes, suggesting multiple mechanisms of pathogen suppression. This study presents Purpureocillium sodanum as a highly effective in vitro antagonist with superior inhibition compared to standard Trichoderma strains. These findings support its potential as a novel, eco-friendly biocontrol agent and warrant further investigation for broader agricultural applications.

In vitro Evaluation of Three Unexploited Fungi for Their Biocontrol Potential against Selected Phytopathogenic Fungi

<div style="text-align: justify;">Artocarpus are members of the Moraceae family who are believed to be a large family comprises of nearly 60 genera and about 1400 species. The most important genus of the Moraceae family is Ficus, Morus and Artocarpus. The extract and bioactive compounds from bark, leaves, seeds and pericarp of monkey fruit have shown to possess exceptional phytochemical, nutritional and valuable pharmacological properties. This fruit is capable of offering numerous inhibitory factors such as antibacterial, antitubercular, antiviral, antifungal, antiplatelet, antiarthritic, tyrosinase inhibitory and cytotoxicity. This review devotes the complete overview of pharmacological and bioactive components exclusively found in the monkey fruit and its parts. However, fruit exhibits appreciable properties, but they are still unknown as well as underutilized. The remarkable properties of plants and the modern approaches are needed for the treatment of chronic diseases, the development of drugs and functional food products, or for the improvement of properties existed ones.&nbsp;</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Botanical, Chemical and Pharmacological Properties of Artocarpus lakoocha (Monkey Fruit): A Review</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">India is endowed with a rich genetic diversity of fruits. The Hindustani centre represents 344 species of fruits. Northeast India, meeting ground of Indo-Malayan and Indo-Chinese bio-geographical areas is one of the 18 mega-biodiversity centers of the World, has contributed the fruit genera like Citrus, Musa, Mangifera, Docynia, Elaeocarpus, Myrica, Morus, Artocarpus, etc. There are a quite large number of indigenous and underutilized fruit crops, which are being used by the local inhabitants in rural areas. These underutilized fruits are fairly rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidant properties and are serving as protective food. Because of their curative properties, different parts of these fruit and plants have been used in ethno-medicines. Apart from their nutritive and medicinal values quite a few of these underutilized fruits have good flavor, colour and juice content and can be used for value additions. Several underutilized fruit species which have potential for commercial exploitation are yet to be utilized to their potential. These fruit crops have not undergone any conscious phase of domestication and selection. Their cultivation is very restricted and they grow in wild and semi wild condition and adapted to local climatic conditions. Hence they can thrive even under most adverse situation. Their adoption on a commercial scale, with crop improvement, standardization of cultural practices and popularization in diverse farming systems and value additions are warranted to achieve stability in farm production and food security. Many underutilized species, well adapted to marginal lands and with low cost inputs, may thus be of great benefit for the survival of poor communities, employment generation and sustainability of agricultural ecosystems.</div>

Influence of Organic Manures on Soil Physico-chemical Properties under Morus based Agrisilviculture System

Clarification of Sumatran Mulberry (Morus macroura var. macroura, Moraceae) from West Sumatra, Indonesia using Nucleus Ribosomal ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) Gene

Weed Management in Mulberry (Morus alba): A Review

Effects of dietary supplement of mulberry leaf (Morus alba) on growth and meat quality in rabbits

In vitro Evaluation of Three Unexploited Fungi for Their Biocontrol Potential against Selected Phytopathogenic Fungi

Botanical, Chemical and Pharmacological Properties of Artocarpus lakoocha (Monkey Fruit): A Review

Underutilized Fruits of Assam for Livelihood and Nutritional Security