Silkworm Rearing (Mulberry)

Booklet No. 448

Sericulture: SERS – 2
By Dr (Fr) K.T. Chandy S.J.

Contents
Preface
I. Introduction
II. Biology of Mulberry Silk Worm
III. Commercial Races
IV. Life Cycle of Mulberry Silk Worm
V. Grainage Technique
VI. Rearing Conditions
VII. Rearing Appliances
VIII. Rearing Operations
IX. Conclusion

Preface

Sericulture is one of the eight large employment systems in which a large percentage of rural
people are engaged. It is not only an employment generating activity but also it can serve as a tool for
the enhancement of the status of rural people, through economic development The rearing of silkworms
re- quires intensive technical guidance on the spot Silkworm rearing demands certain specific
environmental conditions particularly of temperature and humidity. The other activities relating to
rearing are also mentioned here. This booklet is designed to give information on biology of mulberry
silkworm, and the rearing operations.

Dr. K. T. Chandy, Agricultural &Environmental Education

I. Introduction

Silk is a fibrous protein of animal origin. A number of animals secrete silk which is used by them
for anchorage (muscles), entangling their prey (spiders), or forming a protective sheath with or without
other material (Lepidopteran co-coons). Nearly 400-500 species are known to produce silk but only
very few are commercially exploited. They are the follow-
ing.

1. Mulberry silk
Nearly 95% of the commercial silk comes from the mul- berry silkworms Bombyx mori.

2. Tasar silk
Important species of silk insects exploited for tasar silk production are:
a. Tropical tasar -Antheraca mylitta (India)
b. Temperate tasar -A. proylei (India)
c. Chinese tasar -A. pemyi (China & Russia)
d. Japanese tasar -A. yamamai (Japan) MA

3. Muga Silk
Muga silk is obtained from the 'cocoon of silk insect belong to the species of A. assamensis
(India).

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4. Eli Silk
Eri silk is obtained from the silk insect Samia cynthia ricini.

5. Anaphe silk
Anaphe silk is produced by species of the genus Anaphe, in the Southern and Central Africa
and is used in velvet and plush. It is more elastic and stronger than mulberry silk. The species spin
cocoons in communes or groups. The fluffy material is spun to produce Anaphe silk.

6. Fagara silk
This is produced from the pedunculate cocoons of the giant silk moth Attacus aitas inhabiting
1he Indo-Australian biogeographic region, China and Sudan.

7. Coan Silk
Coan silk is used to make the crimson-dye and apparel worn by the dignitaries of Rome is
produced by the larvae of Pachypasa otus found in the mediterranean region.

8. Mussel Silk
The byssus threads (filamental structures) of the mussel Pinna squamosa are spun into a silk
called fish wool in Italy.

9. Spider silk
The silk secreted by some spiders including Nephiia madagascarensus and Miranda aurentia is
used to produce spider silk. Though not exploited in textile industry, spider silk is used to produce the
cross bars in optical instruments.

Commercial silk from sources other than mulberry silkworm is collectively called Non mulberry
silk. As mulberry silk constitutes nearly 95% of the total silk production, silk in popular terms may refer
only to mulberry silk and sericulture only to the rearing of mulberry silkworms. India is the only country
in the world which is producing all the four varieties of silk viz. mulberry, tasar, eri and muga. It has the
world monopoly for muga, a golden yellow silk, produced mainly in the state of Assam.

Production of mulberry raw silk is mainly confined to the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,
West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir which together account for more than 99% of the
country's total mulberry raw silk production. India produces mulberry both under rainfed and irrigated
conditions. Mulberry is a fast growing hardy plant and its leaves can be harvested several times in a
year.

Silk is known as the queen of textiles because of its unmatched structure, softness and its rich
appearance. It has ruled unchallenged in history as an exclusive textile and its dominant position has
not changed despite the advent and challenge of modern synthetics. In fact, there is a resurgence of
demand for silk the world over.

Sericulture involves several activities such as (1) mulberry cultivation (covered in booklet No.
318), (2) production of leaves of the host plant, (3) rearing of silkworms and production of cocoons, (4)
reeling of cocoons resulting in production of silk filament, (5) weaving, and (6) finishing and production
of fabrics.

The activities relating to plant cultivation and production of reeling cocoons are agriculture
oriented and are best suited to the rural sector. The reeling of raw silk and production of hand-spun silk

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yarns are cottage based industries. This can be set up in both rural and semi urban centres employing
hand and/or power driven appliances with skilled labour.

In addition to these activities, the fabrication of rearing equipment and production of silkworm
seeds scientifically at centres is called grainages and it is an integral part of the sericulture activities.

II. Biology of Mulberry Silk Worm

In India 200 races mulberry silk worms are maintained in their different breeding centres. They
are broadly classified mainly based on moults, voltinism, place of origin and commercial usage.

1. Classification based on the number of larval moults

On the basis of the number of moults which they undergo during their larval life, B. mori is
divided into three groups: trimoultcrs, tetramoultes and pentamoulters. Most of the commercially
exploited races are tetramoulters with five larval instals.

2. Classification based on voltinism

Voltinism refers to the number of broods raised per year. Voltinism is a genetically determined
heritable character under hormonal control. Based on voltinism B. mori is divided into three type of
races: univoltines, bivoltines, and poly or multi-voltines as given in Table 1.

Univoltine races produce only one generation per year. The eggs laid remain in a diapausing
(quiet) condition till the next spring. Larvae of univoltines are very sensitive to temperature and other
environmental conditions. They are unsuitable for summer and autumn rearing by artificial breaking of
egg diapause. The larval period is very long. All European races are Univoltines. The cocoons
produced are commercially very supenor.

Bivoltine races have two generations per year, the first generation adults developing from eggs
hatched in spring lay non dipausing eggs. The second generation adults developing from these eggs
lay eggs which remain in the dormant state till next spring. The larval duration is as long as univoltines.

Larvae are robust and tolerate environmental fluctuations. They can be used for 'Summer and
autumn rearing and three crops can be raised per year. The cocoons are commercially superior.
Japanese and Chinese races have both uni and bivoltine varieties.

Multi or polyvoltines have more than three generations per year. The larval duration is short,
and larvae are resistant to high temperature and high humidity. Larvae and cocoons are small in size.
Commercially cocoons are of poor quality. The adults lay non-diapausing eggs.

Table 1 : Characteristics of different races based on Voltinism of mulberry

silkwonn
Sl.No Characteristics features Univoltines and Multivoltines
bivoltines
1 Egg Diapausing/ non Non diapausing
diapausing
2 Length of silk filament in 1000-1600 m 300-400 m
cocoon
3 Shell ratio 15-25 % 10-12 %
4 Raw silk 80-85 % 40-45%

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3. Classification based on place of origin
Based on their place of origin B. mori is classified into Chinese, Japanese, European and Indian
races. These races can be distinguished one from another on the basis of morphological characters of
egg, larva, cocoon and adult, biological characters like duration of life cycle diapause characters,
rubber of larval moults and resistance to environmental factors and diseases and commercial
characters of the cocoon like length of filament, thickness of filament, percentage of deformed co-coons
etc.

III. Commercial Races

Each country, in an attempt to improve silk yield has evolved a number of hybrids. The
commercially important Indian races are :

a) Kalimpong A (KA) : Bivoltine race with oval cocoons.

b) C. Nichi (NB4D2) : Bivoltine or multivoltine cocoons, ground nut shaped with a constrictjon in the
middle.
c) Nandi : AhybridbetweenKA x NB4D2.
The constriction in the cocoon is very shallow.
d) Pure Mysore (PM) : Multivoltine. One side of the cocoons is broad and the other is pointed (ie. egg
shaped)
e) Tamil Nadu white : Multivoltine white cocoons (TNW) with pointed ends.

IV. Life Cycle of Mulberry Silk Worm

Mulberry silk worm is a holometabolous insect and passes through four morphologically
different stages in its life cycle egg, larva, pupa and adult (Fig. 1).

The duration of each stage varies according to the race (table 2) and according to the climatic
conditions and the quality of the food given.

Table 2 : Duration of different stages of life cycle in different races of mulberry silk worm

Sl.No Particulars Uni/ bivoltine Multivoltine

1 Egg 11-14 days (after break 9-12 days
of diapause)
2 Larva 24-26 days 20-24 days
3 Pupa 12-15 days 10-12 days
4 Adult life span 6-10 days 3-4 days

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1. Egg
A female moth lays about 400 eggs in a single laying. The size weight, shape and colour of the
egg as well as the number per laying vary among different races.

The duration fo life cycle spent in the egg stagfe varies depending upon whether it is a
hibernating or a non-hibernating egg. Hibernating eggs under natural conditions remain dormant for
months together till the spring season in the next year. Diapause (period of quiescence) can be broken
artificially by acid treatment. Non-hibernating eggs normally complete their embryonic development in
9-15 days, and hatch out into larvae.

2. Larva
The larvae of B. mori, like other lepidopteran larvae is of the cruciform or polypod type with
abdominal prolegs. The larva moults, three four or five times and has four, five and six larval instars
(stage of insect between molts). The final larval instal after full growth empties its gut, stops feeding,
and spins the cocoon of silk around it. The last instar larva is 10 cm long.

3. Pupa
The pupal moult occurs within the cocoon spun by the final instar larva. Pupae can be seen only
by cutting open the cocoon. Pupae are soft and white soon after the moult but become hard and brown,
with the tanning of the pupal cuticle. The pupa is a non-motile and non-feeding stage. The larval organs
are degenerated and adult organs are differentiated during this stage.

4. Adult
The moths have lost their flight due to several centuries of domestication. It does not feed
during its short life span of three to six days. The size of the moth is about 4 cm x 2 cm. The entire body
and the wings are covered with epidermal scales.

V. Grainage Technique

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 For sericulture industry to be profitable, two things are important:
1. The race of silkworm reared should be superior and spin commercially good quality cocoons.
2. Healthy and hygienic rearing must be carried out by providing optimum conditions and quality leaves.

The function of producing disease free laying of silk- worms, called 'Industrial seeds' of known pure
breed on hy- brid, is carried out in special centres called grainage. Each grainage caters to the need of
sericulturists of a given area. Generally grainges are government owned organizations. But licensed
private owners may also supply seeds. For example a grainage managed by an NGO is a great service
to sericultur- ists operating on small and marginal farms.

A. Procedures in a grainage
The following are the procedures in a grainage:
1. rearing of parental seed cocoons,
2. seed cocoon preservation,
3. separation of sexes,
4. moth emergences,
5. pairing and oviposition,
6. methods of industrial egg production, and
7. mother moth examination which may be individual moth examination, sample moth examination and
mass moth examination.

B. Transport of eggs
Eggs have to be transported from the grainages to the rearing places. During this transport,
eggs should not be ex- posed directly to sunlight, wind, rain etc. Eggs may be transported in the
aestivations period or in the hibernation period or in post hibernation or pre-incubation period.

VI. Rearing Conditions

Mulberry silkworm is a delicate, domesticated insect which cannot tolerate diurnal and seaoonal
fluctuations in the environmental conditions. Hence, they are reared in special rearing houses where
natural changes in the environmental conditions outside are reduced to the minimum so that silkworms
receive more uniform conditions.

Rearing houses may be brick-walled, cement plastered, permanent structures or mud walled
structures. Within the room, the rearing stand should be kept in that part which is least exposed to
sunlight. It is not possible for all silkworm rearers to install thermostatically controlled air heating or
aircooling devices. Temperature and humidity inside the room are regulated by hanging wet gunny
clothes on the doors and windows in hot season and by keeping a burning oven or charcoal stove in
winter.

VII. Rearing Appliances

Sericulture is a rural based agIo-industry and accordingly the appliances used are made from
cheap and locally available materials. Hence, the appliances used differ from place to place and also
according to the system of rearing and system off' mulberry harvest The most common method of
rearing in India is the shelf rearing as it facilitates the rearing of a large number of worms in a small
space. Various types of appliances used for this method of rearing are briefly explained here. With
regard to various appliances used in sericulture they should be observed, distinguished and studied in
a sericulture rearing station close your area. Here it is only possible to enumerate and explain the
usages of various types of appliances.

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A. Appliances used for keeping the worms reared
Appliances for keeping the worms are listed out with brief explanations.

1. Rearing stand
It is used for supporting the rearing trays which are placed horrizontally in vertical rows. It is
made of locally available wood or bamboo. The standard sized stands has a height of 2.5 m, length of
1.5 m and a width of 0.65 m. It has cross bars with a distance of 0.15 m to accommodate 10-12 tiers of
rearing trays.

2. Rearing trays
These are placed one above the other in the rearing stand to accommodate large number of
silkworms. The chopped leaves placed on the trays with worms is called the rearing bed.

3. Ant wells
These are placed below the legs of the rearing stand and are filled with water to prevent ants
creeping on to the trays.

4. Paraffin paper
Thick craft paper coated with paraffin wax is used to prevent evaporation of moisture and to
maintain high humidity in the rearing trays of young silkworms.

5. Foam robber strips

These are also used to maintain high humidity. Thick folding of newsprint paper on blotting
paper-soaked in water may also be used.

6. Chop sticks
These are two thin sticks of bamboo (17.5 cm and 20 cm) which taper to a point. At the thick
end the two are connected by a small thread, and these are used like forceps for picking worms.

7. Feathers
Bird's feathers are used for brushing newly hatched larvae from the egg card into the rearing
tray.

B. Appliances used for feeding

Feeding also needs some separate equipments which should
be safe to use.

1. Leaf baskets
These are bamboo baskets of convenient size used for collecting and transporting of leaves
from the field to the rearing house.

2. Leaf chamber
A chamber, the sides and bottom of which are made of strips of wooden reapers, is used to
store harvested mulberry leaves. Wet gunny clothes is placed as a lining.

3. Chopping board
This is a rectangular board made of soft wood used for cutting mulberry leaves.

4. Chopping knife
Sickle like knives with broad and sharp blade are needed for chopping leaves.

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5. Mats
These are placed below the chopping boards prior to chopping and is used to collect cut leaves.

6. Feeding stand
A folding stand on which the trays removed from the stand are placed, one at a time for feeding
and bed cleaning.

C. Appliances used for bed cleaning

Nets of different mesh size made of cotton or nylon are placed above the trays for cleaning the
rearing beds or trays. When the mesh is placed on the tray and some leaves are put the worms pass
through the mesh and climb on the mesh. When all the worms have come up them the mesh is lifted
and the tray is removed and cleaned.

D. Appliances used to support the spinning larvae

Mountages -These are contrivances used for supporting the larvae when they spin the cocoons.
Different types of mountages are used in different parts of India. In addition to support the spinning
worms, the mountages should satisfy the following requirements.

1. provide convenient space of suitable dimension for spinning

good sized cocoons.
2. should not promote formation of double cocoons, malformed cocoons and flimsy cocoons.
3. should have provisions for drying up of the last excreta of the worm prior to spinning and prevention
of its falling on the cocoons of other worms.
4. should be suitable for easy mounting and harvesting. The common mountages used in India are
briefly described here.
a. Dried grass and twigs spread in shallow bamboo baskets are used in Assam.
b. Dried weeds, paddy straw and fresh weeds are used in Jammu and Kashmir. In these two moulting
and harvesting is difficult and require more labour. Further, formation of double and deformed cocoons
is high.
c. Chandrika which is formed by a bamboo spiral is the most common mountage Used in South India
and West Bengal. This consist of a bamboo mat of size 1.8 m x 1.2 m supported by split bamboo
reapers on all sides. On this bamboo mat, a bamboo tape of 4 to 5 cm width is wound in a spiral
manner. The bamboo tape has V-shaped struts supported by three long bamboo strips. About 1000
worms can be mounted on this mountage.

The defects of this mountage are:

(i) percentage of flimsy and soiled cocoons are high.
(ii) drying is uneven.
(iii) harvesting and cleaning is difficult.

To overcome these defects, chandrika with 12 mm holes provided in the back mat have been
introduced recently.

Other recently introduced modifications under trial are screen type of bamboo mountage and
plastic collapsible mountage. These are convenient to handle and store.

d. Bottle brush mountage is introduced recently is not only cheap but can be fabricated very quickly and
occupies very little space compared to Chandrika. It consists of a thick coconut or jute fibre-rope into
which 6 to 9" sticks (midrib of coconut leaves) are inserted very closely. The silkworms used the sticks
as support and spin the cocoons in the space between the sticks.

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E. Appliances needed for disinfection
1. A sprayer, either hand operated or power operated is needed to spray 2% formalin prior to rearing
operation.
2. If fumigation is adopted for disinfection, a gas mask is used to protect the face of the operator.

E. Appliances used for maintaining optimum conditions

1. Thermometer -to measure the temperature
2. Hygrometer -to measure the humidity
3. An oven (electrical) or stove (charcoal) to warm up the rearmg room.
4. Floor mat soaked in formalin. Kept at the door.
5. Wash basin.

VIII. Rearing Operations

The silkworm rearing involves the common operations such as disinfection, hatching, brushing,
maintenance of optimum temperature and humidity in rearing beds, feeding, bed cleaning, spacing,
care during moulting, mounting of mature worms for spinning and harvesting of cocoons.

The details of the operation vary from place to place to suit local conditions of environment and
according to local tradition of rearing. These operations are briefly explained one by one as follows.

A. Disinfection
It is a preliminary operation and the following points are kept in mind before selecting the
disinfectant and the method of its application.
1. The disinfectant must be effective against the pathogens of silkworm diseases.
2. Its application must be simple, easy and less time taking.
3. It must be harmless to man and domestic animals.
4. It must be cheap and easily available.

Physical methods of disinfection include, sun-drying, steaming and hot air sterilization. Among
the chemical methods, chemical like paraformaldehyde, sodium hypobromide, iodine, idoform, alcohol
have been tried for disinfection. The most popular chemical disinfection methods used by commercial
rearers are following.

a. spraying with 2% formalin.

b. spraying with chlorkalk solution.
c. fumigating with formaldihyde gas.

Different concentrations of formalin are used for different disinfection purposes as given in Table
3.

Table 3 : Different concentrations of formalin used for different purposes

Sl.No Purpose % used Remarks

1 For routine disinfection 1-2 % Rearing room & appliances
2 After pebrine infection 4-5 % Rearing room & appliances
3 During muscardine infection 0.7-0.8 % Sprayed on the worms

Chlorkalk is a white powder containing Ca, CI and water. The advantage of using chlorkalk is
that it is cheap, harmless to man, his animals. 55 grns of chlorkalk is dissolved in 95 cc of water and left

9
undisturbed. Clear supernatant solution is used for disinfection. 220 cc. is needed for spraying 10 m2
area.

Regarding fumigation by formaldihyde gas 35 gram of formalin gas is obtained be evaporation

of 92 cc of 35% formalin. The doors and windows are closed at rtight before fumigation and kept
closed for 24 hours.

B. Hatching
Hatching (coming out of the larvae from the egg after breaking the shell) is a photoperiodic
response and begins in the early morning with sunrise and continues till noon. The newly hatched
larvae are black and bristly and are called ants.

C. Brushing
The process of separating the newly hatched larva from their egg shell and transferring them to
the rearing bed is called brushing. The best time for brushing is 10 A.M. when the peak of hatching has
occurred. Unhatched eggs are transferred back to the hal box and brushed the next day.

1. Brushing the loose eggs in egg boxes

This is done when 75% of the eggs have reached the blue egg stage (blue eggs are hatched
eggs). The hatched larvae crawl up through the holes of perforated paper spread over the box, to eat
the chopped pieces of leaves which are spread over. When a large number of larvae have crawled up,
the larvae along with the chopped leaves are tapped.

2. Brushing from egg cards

The various brushing methods adopted are
i. Feather method
This is a popular method in India. Egg card is held vertically above the rearing bed and by
gentle strokes of feathers the larvae are pulled out.

ii. Husk method

Powdered husk is sprinkled over the freshly hatched larvae on the egg card. Place few leaves
on the centre of the husk sprinkled. The larvae crawl up the layer of husk to reach the leaves which are
placed over the centre of the husk. As the larvae crawl up the layer of husk themselves and are
brushed by feather along with husk, the chances of injury are less.

iii. Cloth/paper/net method

This is an adaptation from the method used for loose eggs. A cloth/paper/net with meshes is
placed above the egg card and fresh chopped leaves are spread over it. After half an hour, larvae
attached to the underside of net and those that have crawled on to the leaves are transferred to the bed
gently.

3. Maintenance of optimum conditions for rearing

The optimum temperature and humidity for different in star is given in table 4.
Table 4: Optimum temperature and humidity conditions for different instars

Sl.No Instars Temperature Humidity

1 1st instar 26-28o C 85%
2 2nd instar 26-280C 85%
3 3rd instar 24-260C 80%
4 4th instar 24-25oC 75%

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 5 5th instar 23-24oC 70%

Normal, commercial rears do not have sophisticated gad- gets for adjusting humidity and
temperature. They adopt certain remedial measures for such adjustments, as per the weather
conditions. However, placing a thermometre inside the rearing room is beneficial to observe the
temperature fluctuations.

D. Feeding
The quality of the cocoons harvested, depends mainly on the quality of leaves fed during
rearing. Feeding must satisfy both the appetite of the larvae and its nutritional requirements. The first
deals with the amount and frequency of feeding of each instar and the second with the quality of
leaves.

a. Quality and frequency of feeding

The appetite increases with the age of the larvae. Of the total ingestion during the entire larval
period, nearly 85% is taken during IV and V instars. The amount of food given also depends on the
races. Uni and bi voltine require more than multivoltine. The amount of leaves to be supplied for 50
DFL'G or 20,000 loose eggs is given in table 5.

Table 5 : Amount of leaves required for different stages of larvae

Sl.No Age/ instar Uni or bi voltine race Multivoltine &

bivoltine in tropics
1 1st 1-2 kg 1-2 kg
2 2nd 5-6 kg 2-3 kg
3 3rd 20-55 kg 15-20 kg
4 4th 80-90 kg 35-50 kg
5 5th 450-475 kg 300-325 kg
550-600 kg 350-400 kg

Insufficient amount of leaves leads to unequals among the worms and overfeeding is uneconomical.

b) Frequency of feeding
This varies from time to time and from place to place. In shoot and floor rearing three feedings
per day are sufficient. The current practices is to maintain the frequency of feeding to 4 feedings per
day.

Maximum amount should be given during the active feeding stage and no feeding during the
moulting stage.

c) Quality of leaf
Leaves should be placed from well maintained mulberry plants which have received adequate
fertilizers and irrigation. Too coarse or too tender leaves are less suitable. Young worms require tender
leaves rich in water, sugar, protein and minerals with little starch and coarse fibre while late age
worms/require mature leaves with less of water and more crude fibres. (Fig. 2)

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d) Preparation of leaf for feeding
To enable the larva to feed easily, young worms have to be given chopped leaves. For mature
worms entire leaf collected by leaf picking may be given. The main advantage of chopped leaf feeding
are :
-It facilitates the even distribution of leaves in the rearing bed or tray.
-It enables precise regulation of the amount of leaves supplied per feeding.
-It prevents the bed from getting too damp in wet weather.
-It is advantageous in hot weather as chopped leaves do not curl up as quickly as entire leaf.

E. Bed cleaning
It is necessary to remove the litter (which consists of remains of leaves, exuvia of moulted
larvae and faecal matter) periodically, and the process of its removal is called bed cleaning. The
frequency of clearing required is given as follows.

No. of cleanings.
1st instar -once durjng the premoulting stage.
2nd instar -twice -once after moult and the second before the next moult.
3rd instar -thrice -first after the moult, second in the middle of the instar
and third just before the next moult.
4th &5th instar -For shelf rearing -once a day. For floor rearing -once for
each instar.

Regarding methods of cleaning, three methods can be adopted

a. cleaning with husk
b. cleaning wit net
c. combined net and husk method.

a. Cleaning with husk

A thin layer of husk is sprinkled evenly and completely over the bed just before feeding in the
morning. The first feeding of chopped mulberry leaves is sprayed over the layer of husk. The worms
crawl through the layer of husk to get the fresh leaves. At the time of second feeding the food is spread
on a second tray and the worms on the leaves above the husk are gently swept by a brush to the
second tray. The litter in the old tray is removed.

For the first two instars, powdered husk is used instead of entire one. Recent!y use of charred
husk or formalinized husk is recommended as an anti-muscardine measure.

b. Cleaning with net

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 A nylon or cotton net with a mesh of suitable size is spread completely over the rearing tray to
be cleaned and fresh chopped mulberry leaves are spread over the net. Worms crawl through the
meshes and feed on the leaves. After the second feeding the net is removed and worms and fresh
leaves on it are transferred to the fresh rearing tray. The recommended mesh size for the different
instars is

1st and 2nd instars 2 mm2

3rd instar 10 mm2
4th and 5th instals 20 mm2

The advantage of this method is that it is simple and requires less labour.

c. Combined net and husk method

A thin layer of paddy husk is first sprinkled over the bed and a net of suitable mesh size is
superposed on it. Two successful feedings are given on the net after which the worms on the net are
transferred to another tray. This method combines the cleannes of the husk method with the case of
transference of the net method. It requires less skill and care in manipulation than the husk method but
is more expensive than either, and also has the same inconvenience with regard to spacing as in the
case of net method.

F. Spacing
Silkworms develop very rapidly from age to age and increase several times their original weight
and size in each instal. The rate of increase varies from hatching to 1st instar, 4 to 5 times each at 2nd
instar and 3rd instar, 25 times each at 4th and 5th instars. The total increase in weight from hatching to
the end of the 5th instar will be from 7000-10,000 times.

The theoretical spacing to be provided for different ages of silkworms of 50 laying or 20,000
loose eggs is given in table 6.

Table 6 : Spacing required for 50 laying or 20,000 loose eggs

Sl.No Uni & bivoltine At the beginning of the stage At the end of
age (m2) the stage (m2)
st
1 1 0.2 0.8
2 2 nd
1.0 2.0
3 3rd 2.0 4.5
4 4th 5.0 10.0
th
5 5 10.0 20.0
Multivoltine and bivoltine in tropics
1 1st 0.2 0.5
2 2nd 0.5 1.5
rd
3 3 1.5 3.0
4 4th 3.0 9.0
5 5th 9.0 18.0

Normally the practical rearer is advised to double or triple the space from the 1st instar to 3rd
instar and to increase the space by 2 or 3 times in the 4th instar and again by 2 times in the 5th instar.
Totally the space is increased by 80-100 times from hatching to the final instal.

Spacing should not be given during the moulting period and it is done either independently or
along with bed cleaning.

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G. Care during moulting
Moulting occurs four times during the larval life. It is a sensitive period lasting for 15-30 hours,
during which the worm does not feed but wriggles out of the old skin and comes out with a new and soft
skin. Care during moulting is stopping and resuming feeding at appropriate time that ensures uniformity
in growth. So also keeping the bed dry and taking antimuscardine measures during moulting reduces
the chance of contraction of diseases during this sensitive period.

H. Rearing methods
The requirements of temperature, humidity and leaf quality are different for young and later
stage worms. So also the schedule of rearing operations like feeding, bed cleaning spacing are
different. Accordingly the method of rearing of young and mature worms are also different.

1. Rearing of young worms

The emphasise on chawaki rearing is the maintenance of a higher temperature (27°C) and
humidity (80-85%) within the bed and supply of tender leaves rich in moisture sugar salts, and proteins
and with less fibre content.

a. Paraffin paper rearing

The bottom and the top of the rearing beds are covered with paraffin papers, with the paraffin
side facing the bed. This is done to maintain the succulence of the leaves as well as higher
temperature. The paraffin cover on the top is removed 30 minutes prior to each feeding for ventilation
and also during moulting time to provide a dry bed. The incidence of muscardine is very high in this
method and hence application of thin layer of lime powder over the bed is advised during rearing and
especially during moulting period.

b. Box rearing
Boxes or deep trays of wood or plastic or galvanized iron of at least 10-15 cm depth are used
for this method of rearing. In boxes rearing with lid, the boxes are closed with lids after placing a
paraffin paper on top and boxes are arranged in rearing shelf. In boxes without lids, the boxes are kept
cross- wise so that ventilation is provided.

Feeding, bed cleaning, spacing and antimuscardine measures are to be done as in paraffin
paper method.

c. Co-operative rearing
To minimize the loss due to 'missing larvae' young age larvae are reared by skilled labour in a
centralized organization with facilities for maintaining suitable conditions. The farmers are given worms
for rearing after the 2nd moult. Such a cooperative rearing saves labour and increases productivity.

In India, co-operative rearing is not very popular and mulberry gardens for chawki rearing alone
are rarely maintained.

2. Rearing of mature worms

The three methods for rearing these stages are the following:

a. Shelf rearing
This is the most popular method of rearing in India. The worms are reared in circular bamboo
tray (1-1.2 m diameter) which are placed one above the other in tiers in shelves arranged parallel to the
wall. Spacing is generally combined with bed cleaning. The main advantage of this method is that a
large number of worms can be reared in a small place and the place can also be kept clean. The

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disadvantages include labour involved in feeding and bed cleaning which have to be done tray by tray
and also initial investment is involved in the purchase of trays and shelves.

b. Floor rearing
This is similar to shelf rearing except that instead of trays, fixed rearing seats or beds are used
to accommodate the worms. The rearing seats are made of wood or bamboo strips and are about 1 to
1.5 m in width and as long as the room can accommodate. The seats are arranged in two or three tiers
at a distance of 0.6 to 0.8 m in between. Feeding is given three to four times per day with entire leaves
or cut twigs. Bed cleaning is done with nets. As in shelf rearing, care should be taken to give proper
spacing.

c. Shoot rearing
This Japanese method is similar to floor rearing that here also rearing is carried out on fixed
platforms or beds. Here entire branches or shoots are given for feeding. The leaves are distributed in
three dimensions and there is better aeration within the room. Bed cleaning is reduced to minimum of
once for each instar. In Japan, with labour shortage this is a popular method but in India with a lot of
unemployed labour, shelf rearing is the most popular method

I. Mounting
For providing optimum spinning condition, the ripe worms are transferred to special devices
called 'Mountage'. The process of transferring the ripe worms to the mountages or cocoonages or
encabanages is called mounting.

Mounting is the final and most important busy operation in silkworm rearing. The final instar
larva after attaining full growth, selects a suitable place exudes silk through its spinner- et and spins a
cocoon around itself and transforms into a pupa inside it. The pupa after metamorphasing into a moth
comes out by piercing open the cocoon. The aim of sericulture is to rear silkworms and provide them
with optimum conditions so that they spin a good cocoon with high silk content and to harvest them
before moth emergence.

1. Characteristic features of a ripe wonn

The final instar larva after full growth stops feeding and is ready to spin the cocoon. At this stage
it is called the ripe worm. This stage is attained after 5-7 days of feeding in 5th instar for multivoltine
and bivoltine in subtropical regions. The ripe worm is readily distinguishable by its translucent colour as
it does not feed and gut does not have any green colour in it. The body shrinks in length.
2. Process of spinning
This process takes place about one to two days in multivoltine and two to three days in
uni/bivoltines. The fibre from the two silk glands come out through the spinneret independently and are
called brins. The serecin of the two glands cements the two brins into a single threads called bave.

3. Methods of mounting
a. Hand picking
This method has an advantage that only ripe worms will be picked the worms will be more
uniformly distributed in the mountages and injured and diseased worms can be easily recognized and
removed.

b. Net method
Nets are spread over the rearing beds and ripe worms alone crawl on the nets, and the nets
along with the ripe worms are removed and shaken on the mountages, Handling is avoided in this
method and it requires less labour.

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c. Branch method
This is similar to net method and here small branches are spread above the rearing bed. In
shoot rearing, the early ripening larvae (10-20%) are hand picked and the rest are shaken off the shoot
and transferred to mountage.

d. Free mounting
This method is not popular in India. The early ripening larvae are hand picked but the majority
are allowed to crawl themselves on to the mountage which are placed above the rearing bed.

Free mounting undoubtedly saves labour and causes minimum injury to the worms but has the
disadvantage that uniform distribution is not achieved on the mountages.

4. Population density in mounting

The ripe worm ordinarily requires an area which is the square of its body length for spinning its
cocoon. Too wide a spacing is uneconomical for the following reason.

a. the silkworm wastes too much silk for spinning the preliminary web.
b. extra mountages and extra labour are required.
c. too close a spacing is also uneconomical and results in the formation of double cocoons (which are
unreliable) is very high.
d. soiling and staining of the cocoons with excreta is very high. Overcrowding condition lead to poor
ventilation which winders the drying up of cocoons. As a result more of damp, satined and inferior
cocoons are formed.

The optimum density for chandrika, the popular Indian mountage is 50 worms per 0.1 m2.

5. Precautions to be taken during mounting

a. Only ripe worms should be mounted. As all worms do not ripe unformly, they must be picked and
mounted.
b. Temperature around 24°C is optimum for spinning. Violent fluctuations of temperature during
spinning leads to unformity of the filaments spun and flaccid cocoon.
c. A humidity range of 60-70% is ideal for spinning. By adequate ventilation, extra moisture must be
dried. Too high a dryness prevents the worms from spinning.
d. The worms must be disturbed during spinning as it causes suspension of spinning and braking of
thread.

6. Harvesting
The aim of silkworm rearing is to harvest the cocoons produced and sell them to the reeling
agencies.

(a) Timing of harvesting

Harvesting must be done after the pupal cuticle hardens and before the adult emerges. Tropical
multivoltine and bivoltine races pupate on the 3rd and 4th day and temperature uni and bivoltines on
the fourth or 5th day of spinning. The recommended time of harvesting is 5th day of spinning for tropical
races and 7th or 8th day for temperate races. Delay in harvest- ing beyond the recommended day may
lead to the formation of pierced cocoons by the emergence of parasitic ozify maggots or by moth
emergence. Too early harvesting leads to inside soiled cocoons due to putrefaction of pupa injured by
harvesting.

(b) Method of harvesting

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 Normally cocoons are harvested by hands. Harvested Cocoons are cleaned by removing any
faecal pellets on them and sorted according to sizes. Defective cocoons are separated.

IX. Conclusion

India has moved into a good position as a producer of raw silk. The first and foremost task in
enhancing production is the dissemination of the knowledge of sericulture to new areas and increasing
productivity in traditional areas. It is suggested that polytechnics, ITIS and KVKS should be used as
focal points for building up a cadre of trained people for extension work in sericulture.

For introduction of sericulture in villages, it will be necessary to form small co-operatives whose
member may be from among the local village population. The co-operatives should construct rearing
huts so that silk worm rearing can be done in a disinfected environment with great care. The harvested
cocoons should be taken immediately for marketing.

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