• Dr. J. Poonguzali
• Mrs. E. Porkodi
• Dr. G. Vimala

Sericulture depends on rearing of silkworm on mulberry leaves. Silk production has direct relationship with larval growth. One of the alternative ways of improvement of larval growth and cocoon production is enrichment of mulberry leaves with supplementary nutrients. The present study has been aiming to find out the feed efficacy of five different plant seed powders treated V1 mulberry leaves with regard to food utilization by larvae and ultimate impact on the economic parameters of silkworm, Bombyx mori Linn. Fresh mulberry leaves were treated with five different plant seed powders such as Cucurbita pepo, Cicer arietinum, Phaseolus vulgaris, Vigna radiate and Vigna mungo at different concentrations such as 50 mg, 100 mg and 150 mg for third, fourth and fifth instar larvae of silkworm respectively. Group sixth served as control. The results indicate a significant difference among the six groups. The economic parameters and the nutrient efficacy were significantly increased in plant seed powders treated groups when compared to the control. The present study revealed that group III fed with Phaseolus vulgaris plant seed powders have shown a significant increase in the food consumption, food assimilation, percent of approximate digestibility, percent of efficiency of conversion of digested food and percent of efficiency of conversion of ingested food, percent of shell ratio, percent of raw silk, silk filament length, silk filament weight and denier in each larval stage followed by other experimental groups when compared with the control. Since silkworms are the only source for producing silk. Plant seed powders supplementation has significantly induced food consumption, utilization and superior cocoon characters by maintaining a balance in the gut flora. Thus, it has been inferred that silkworm larvae fed with plant seed powders supplementation beneficially influence the energy and economic parameters of Bombyx mori, which could be exploited in commercial cocoon production.

Silkworm, Digestive parameters, Economic parameters, Plant seed powders.

"Studies on the Effect of Plant Seed Powders Supplementation on Feed Efficiency and Economic Parameters of Silkworm Bombyx mori Linn", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 11, page no.a504-a523, November-2021, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2111067.pdf

"Studies on the Effect of Plant Seed Powders Supplementation on Feed Efficiency and Economic Parameters of Silkworm Bombyx mori Linn", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 11, page no. ppa504-a523, November-2021, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2111067.pdf