Approaches for enhancing salt tolerance in mulberry (Morus L) -A review

Mulberry (Morus) is a deciduous woody tree with moderate tolerance to salinity, which has great economic importance as its leaf is used for feeding the monophagous silkworm Bombyx mori L. Mulberry leaf is also used as fodder for livestock. The fruits of mulberry are highly nutritious and have many medicinal properties. In this review, effects of salinity on the morphological, physiological, biochemical and genetic characters in mulberry were discussed along with recent developments in salt stress research. Since mulberry is moderately resistant to salinity and a great degree of genotypic variation is found, it is possible to develop varieties with enhanced salt tolerance if appropriate strategies and techniques are adopted. An outline of such strategy was also drawn and discussed. Development of salt tolerant varieties can expand mulberry cultivation into the salt affected marginal lands, thereby increasing the availability of leaf for both sericulture and livestock industries in arid and semiarid regions of India and other Asian countries.