Influence of Aeroponic System on Growth and Yield Parameters of V-1 Mulberry

Abstract

In an aeroponic system, nutrients are directly delivered to the plant roots, which results in the faster growth of crops. Furthermore, aeroponics has been extensively used as a research tool for many difficult-to-propagate plant species. The present investigation shows that the plants grown under the aeroponic system were recorded maximum for all the growth parameters except leaf area which was found maximum under nursery conditions. Among treatments, T3 (three buds per cutting) recorded the maximum for all growth parameters followed by T2 (two buds per cutting) and T1 (one bud per cutting). The interaction effect between propagation systems and the number of buds per cutting showed significant results. S1T3 (three budded cuttings under aeroponic system) recorded maximum for growth parameters viz., intermodal length (4.27 cm), plant height (44.39 cm), number of leaves (16.91), leaf yield (10.79 g/plant), whereas least was recorded by S2T1 i.e., one budded cuttings under nursery (2.39 cm, 35.47 cm, 5.88, 4.84g /plant respectively) at 60 DAT. However, S2T3 recorded a maximum leaf area of 95.96 cm2. From these results, it can be concluded that the aeroponic system could be effectively used for the production of V-1 mulberry saplings.