• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.123-127
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• 2012

An experiment was carried out to boost the production of tasar crops through application of secondary nutrients. Different combinations of secondary nutrients were prepared and its effect was studied on the yield and quality of leaves of tasar food plant Terminalia tomentosa W & A with 2.4 m ${\times}$ 2.4 m spacing and cocoon characters of tasar silkworm Antheraea mylitta Drury reared on them. Among different combinations of secondary nutrients, foliar application of magnesium sulphate (2%, w/v) and basal application of 3 quintal/ha of calcium carbonate (secondary nutrient combination SM5) was found to be the best in crop improvement. It improves the quantity and quality of leaves as well as the commercial characters of cocoons. As a result, silk production improves. Under this combination, leaf yield increased by 26.55% in comparison to control. Average increase in moisture, total mineral, crude protein and total carbohydrate was 3.26%, 20.84%, 15.39% and 17.85% respectively as compared with control. Further, bio assay studies revealed that average larval weight, E.R.R., cocoon weight, shell weight and silk ratio percent increased by 11.25%, 25.71%, 20.05%, 35.14% and 12.17% respectively over control which indicates that secondary nutrient combination $SM_5$ has significant role in improving the production of tasar crops.