Integrated nutrient management in tropical mulberry gardens: recycling sericulture waste for soil health sustainability

Abstract

Integrated nutrient management (INM) provides a sustainable framework for enhancing productivity, soil fertility, and environmental resilience in tropical mulberry-based sericulture systems. With high frequency of leaf harvesting, warm climates and abundant rain in these areas increases the pace of nutrient cycling, which tends to lose nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and exhausting the soil organic carbon. INM addresses these challenges by combining chemical fertilizers with organic amendments such as composted mulberry pruning’s and silkworm litter, vermicompost, and digestates, alongside biofertilizers including Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, Phosphate-solubilizing microbes, and Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The integrated method enhances physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil, as well as the aggregate stability, cation exchange capacity, microbial biomass, and enzyme activities, which contribute to increased mulberry leaf yield around 25 per cent, protein and carbohydrate content, and uniform leaf quality throughout different harvests, which promote better silkworm growth and cocoon performance. Also, INM lowers nutrient loss, balances soil nitrogen, augments organic carbon, and diminishes greenhouse gas effects, which lead to climate resiliency. By providing economic advantages, INM reduces reliance on synthetic fertilizers and improves the benefit-cost ratios, however, it demands labour, technical expertise and infrastructure. By synchronizing nutrient supply with crop demand and recycling sericulture residues, INM integrates agronomic efficiency with environmental sustainability, offering a practical, climate-smart model for resilient and productive tropical sericulture systems.