Polyploidy in agriculture: With special reference to mulberry

Abstract

The mulberry is an economically important crop, cultivated for its foliage to rear the silkworm Bombyx mori L. Its chromosome number varies from 2n = 28 to 2n = 308 with ploidy level from x to 22x. Although there are good number of breeding techniques available in various agricultural crops; including mulberry, yet each of these methods suffers from one drawback or the other. Polyploidy has been intensively used in improving the mulberry crop, and there are good numbers of reports available which have indicated improvement in various commercial characters of the plant. However, the technique has not been popularized in mulberry due to many reasons. The suitability of breeding method usually depends upon the nature of crop. So, I am of the opinion that selection of the breeding method depends upon the kind and nature of crop which is under study.