UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

The silkworm, Bombyx mori L., feeds on mulberry (Morus sp.), which serves as its sole food source. Hence, Mulberry growth and nutritional quality are critical for successful sericulture. With the increasing demand for sustainable agricultural practices particularly in rearing silkworms with chemical free mulberry leaves, the use of organic inputs has gained attention as an alternative to synthetic fertilizers. Silkworm litter, a by-product of silkworm rearing is rich in organic matter and essential nutrients, making it a potential resource for recycling into organic manure. This study explores the effectiveness of silkworm litter based liquid organic manure (SLLM) at different doses along with Recommended Dose of Fertilizers (RDF) in improving the growth and performance of silkworm along with enhanced cocoon quality and reeling parameters. The treatment RDF + Soil drenching of 250 l acre^-1 of 20 % SLLM at 10 Days after pruning (DAP) + Foliar spray of 150 l acre^-1 of 10 % SLLM at 25 DAP (T₉) recorded maximum matured larval weight (43.42 g/10 larvae), less larval duration (21.65 days), minimum disease incidence (1.11 %) with maximum ERR (98.34 %). The cocoon parameters such as cocoon weight (2.49 g), cocoon shell ratio (23.54 %) and filament length (1394.43 m) were also found superior in T₉. This shows that SLLM being liquid manure contained nutrients in readily available form which yielded quality mulberry leaves inturn enhancing silkworm growth, performance along with improved cocoon parameters.