STUDY ON FREQUENCY OF FEEDING ON SEED CROP REARING AND ITS EFFECT ON COCOON YIELD, COCOON CHARACTERS AND GRAINAGE PARAMETERS OF SILKWORM, BOMBYX MORI L.

摘要

Scrutiny of the data obtained in the experiment conducted on the frequency of feeding reveals, an increase in larval weight, ERR by number, ERR by weight, shell weight, shell ratio, fecundity and egg recovery percentage in the batches fed with five feeds a day compared to the control with four feeds a day as practiced for commercial rearing. The improvement in the above characters can be attributed to the availability of fresh leaves throughout the eating period enabling the silkworms to consume continuously reflecting on the phenotypic manifestation. Therefore, adoption of five feeds a day instead of four feeds, without reducing the quantum of feeding was observed to be advantageous for seed crop rearing to ensure the quality of the seed cocoons, which is the of vital importance in the production of hybrid silkworm seed for commercial rearing.