Current Research in Agriculture and Farming (CRAF)
Year : 2025, Volume 6, Issue 1
First page : 1-8
Article doi: : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2582-7146.244
Advances in Host Plant Nutrition and their Effects on Silkworm Productivity
1Divission of Sericulture, Manasa Gangothri University, Mysore, Karnatka, India 2Department of Entomology, Chaudhary Sarvan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India 3PhD Scholar, Division of Entomology, Sher-E-Kashmir University of Agricultural Scineces and Technology, Chatha, Jammu 4The Graduate School, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India 5Project Associate, Floriculture lab, Division of Agrotechnology, Council of Scientific, and Industrial Research- Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (CSIR-IHBT), Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India 6Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Entomology, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture & Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan *Corresponding Author E-mail: sanjaycskhpkv@gmail.com Received: 27.12.2024 | Revised: 19.02.2025 | Accepted: 25.02.2025
ABSTRACT
The silkworm, Bombyx mori, relies solely on mulberry leaves (Morus spp.) for nutrition, making leaf quality pivotal for sericulture productivity. Advances in mulberry nutrition, including optimized soil fertilization, biofertilizers, foliar sprays, and biotechnological interventions like transgenic and CRISPR-edited varieties, have enhanced leaf nutritional profiles, boosting silkworm growth, cocoon yield, and silk quality. Balanced NPK fertilization increases leaf protein by 18.5%, raising cocoon weight by 10.3%, while biofertilizers elevate leaf nitrogen by 14.6%, extending silk filament length by 11.2%. Transgenic and CRISPR-edited mulberry reduce anti-nutritional factors, improving feed efficiency by 10.2% and larval growth by 8.3%. These advancements yield 20–26% higher farmer incomes and 18–21% lower environmental impacts. Challenges like transgenic costs and soil variability persist, but precision agriculture and climate-resilient cultivars promise sustainable sericulture.
Full Text : PDF; Journal doi : http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2582-7146.244
Cite this article:
Damodhara, G. N., Raj S. S., Karthik, R., Sharma, K., Manjunatha, B., Priti, Vashishta, N., Mahala, S. K., & Abhishek, T. S. (2025). Advances in Host Plant Nutrition and their Effects on Silkworm Productivity, Curr. Rese. Agri. Far. 6(1), 1-8. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2582-7146.244
