A Survey on Leaf Quality and Partial Agronomic Traits of Wild Morus laevigata Wall Resources in Southern Yunnan

In order to explore practical value of the long-fruit mulberry,Morus laevigata Wall,63 long-fruit mulberry varieties collected from southern Yunnan were assessed on leaf quality and agronomic traits. Results showed that leaves of 20 of the 63 mulberry varieties could be fed by silkworm( Bombyx mori). After propagation of these 20 mulberry varieties through grafting,the contents of crude protein,crude fat,total sugar and other major nutrients in spring- and autumnharvested leaves were lower than those of the control mulberry cultivar,Husang 32,in the 3rd year after grating. Moreover,their rearing performance was also inferior to that of Husang 32. However,the average length of annual branches of all 20 varieties was longer than that of Husang 32,and 14 long-fruit mulberry varieties had higher average leaf yield per meter annual branch than Husang 32. These results indicated that wild Morus laevigata Wall has relatively strong growth vigor. However,more genetic improvement is needed to develop Morus laevigata Wall for both fruit and leaf uses in production.