Sericulture EconomicsMureed Abbas

2013-ag-1369

University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan

Sericulture

• The art of rearing silkworms for silk production is called Sericulture

• Silk is known as queen of textile and BIOSTEEL due to its strength.

Silk is produced by a number of sp. of the family Bombycidae

Historical perspective

• China is said to be the origin of Sericulture.

• Discovery of silk production by B.mori dates to about 2700 BC

• Now a days sericulture has become a main cottage industry in China, India

,Russia, France, Italy, Korea, Japan

Silkworm Moth

• Silkworm moth feed on mulberry leaves, Mulbery is the best food plant and

is available locally.it has got serrated leaves which are taken by the caterpillars

very easily.Silkworm moth requires Low temperature and little moisture for

rearing

Taxanomy

• Scientific name: Bombyx mori (Linneaus)

• Family: Bombycidae

• Order: Lepidoptera

Life Cycle

Adult

Dirty-white, about 1 inch long, male with

smaller and more pointed abdomen.wings

covered with scales and used for flight.

Eggs

Female lay 200-300 eggs over a couple of

days, and usually die within 2 weeks.eggs are

small, hemisphereical and grayish

Catterpillar

Elongated, whitish-grey, about 7-8 cm long

with a swollen and wrinkled thorax and

abdomen 10-segmented

Pupa

Medium reddish-brown, about 1 inch long,

obtect and enclosed on a cocoon of white or

whitish-yellow silk, Eyes, antennae, legs and

wing- pads, etc., are on the venteral side

Silk Seed

Silk seed is always available in the form of

eggs in packets. One oz.of seed contains

20,000-22,000 eggs

Incubation and food

requirements

For rearing 1 oz. of seed, at least 15 full

grown trees of mulberry are required.

Incubation of eggs starts at least 15 days

earlier than the sprouting of the leaves so,

that when the catterpillars comes out, the

tender leaves are available

Conditions for hatching

Placing the eggs in incubator is the best

process.if incubator is not available then

maintain room temperature 24-26 C. Eggs

should be covered with a basket for the

safeguard against sparrows and termites.

Silk Secretion

The young one hatch out in 10-12 days and

hatching continues for 2-3 days.

After hatching catterpillars begins to secrete

silk thread and get entagled with empty egg

shells

Seperation of catterpillars

To separate catterpillars place a netting on

the egg shells and place some tender

leaves.the catterpillars will creep on leaves.

Lift the netting to separate the catterpillars.

Space required/caterpillar

1st stage……24sq.ft

2nd stage……40sq.ft

3rd stage……80sq.ft

4th stage……250sq.ft

5th stage……300-500 sq.ft

Congestion should never be allowed otherwise caterpillars may die off.

How To Get The Leaves For

Larval Feeding

Leaves are collected twice a day; once at 10

am when the dew has gone dry and then

towards the evening time, The leaves

collected at 10 am are fed for the rest of the

day and those collected in evening are fed in

night

Quantity of food required by

various stages of larvae

1st stage larvae emerge from 1 0z.of seed=5kg of leaves

2nd stage larvae emerge from 1 0z.of seed=10 kg of leaves

3rd stage larvae emerge from 1 0z.of seed=15 kg of leaves

4th stage larvae emerge from 1 0z.of seed=109kg of leaves

5th stage larvae emerge from 1 0z.of seed=400kg of leaves

Total=500-600kg of leaves

(15-16 mulberry tree leaves)

Length of thread/Caterpillar

The length of thread given by a single

caterpillar is 1300-1500 m.

If the cocoon are not collected at proper

time, the caterpillars will make hole and

damaging the whole cocoon for coming out.

Stifling Suffocation

The process of killing the pupa inside the

cocoon is called Stifling Suffocation

This is done by two ways.

1) By Sun Heat

2) By steam

Economic importance

If rearing is successful,25-30 kg of fresh

cocoon is obtaines from one ounce of seed.

When they are stored, the dry cocoon will

weigh about 13-16 kg.

Expenditure and Income in

Rupees

Cost of silkseed/oz=350

Cost of 15kg leaves=1500

Total expenditure=1850

Rate of/kg cocoon=2200

Rate of 15kg cocoon=33,000

Net profit=33,000-1850

=31150

Reference

Applied Entomology

A Pakistan Perspective

By

Dr. Mushtaq A.Saleem

Hyder Ali Shah