Silkworm types

India has the unique distinction of being the only country producing all the five commercially
known varieties of silk, namely, Mulberry,tropicaltasar,oaktasar, Eri and Muga. Anwide
variety of silk synthesizing fauna which includes an amazing diversity of silkworm are reared
in India for producing this natural fibre. Silk obtained from sources other than mulberry are
generally termed as non-mulberry or Vanya silks

Mulberry: The bulk of the commercial silk produced in the world

comes from this variety and often
silk generally refers to mulberry
silk. Mulberry silk comes from the
silkworm, Bombyxmori L. which
solely feeds on the leaves of
mulberry plants. These silkworms
are completely domesticated and reared indoors. In India,
the major mulberry silk producing states are Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir which together accounts
for 92 % of country's total mulberry raw silk production

Tasar:Tasar silk is generated by the silkworm, Antheraeamylitta

which mainly thrive on the
food plants Asan and Arjun.
The rearings are conducted
in nature on the trees in the
open. In India, tasar silk is
mainly produced in the
states of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Orissa, besides Maharashtra, West Bengal and Andhra
Pradesh. Tasar culture is the mainstay for many tribal communities in India.

Oak Tasar: It is a finer variety of tasar generated by the silkworm,

Antheraea proyeli J. in India which
feed on natural food plants of oak,
found in abundance. China is the major
producer of oak tasar in the world and
this comes from another silkworm
which is known as Antheraea pernyi.

Eri:Also known as Endi or Errandi, Eri is a multivoltine silk that is the product of the
domesticated silkworm,Philosamiaricini that feeds mainly on castor leaves. In India, this
culture is practiced mainly in the north-eastern states and Assam. It is also found in Bihar, West
Bengal and Orissa

Muga: This golden yellow colour silk is prerogative of India and the
pride of Assam state. It is obtained
from semi-domesticated
multivoltine
silkworm,Antheraeaassamensis.
These silkworms feed on the
aromatic leaves of Som and Soalu
plants and are reared on trees
similar to that of tasar. Muga culture is specific to the state of Assam and an integral part of the
tradition and culture of that state.

Rearing of Mulberry silkworm

The bulk of the commercial silk produced in the world is mulberry silk that comes from the
domesticated silkworm, Bombyxmori L. which feeds solely on the leaves of the mulberry
(Morus sp.) [Link] climate throughout the year is' quite conducive for silkworm rearing,
cocoon production. It was observed that, because of extreme climate prevailing in this drought
prone area, majorparts of the year are unsuitable for silkworm rearing. The temperature during
December and January ranges between 9-16 degree centigrade and during April, May and June
it goes up to 40 degree centigrade. So the majority of farmers instead of producing 4-6 crops/
year, only produce two-three successful crops and one more crop during September-October
could be produced with risk. The small farmers lack resources in order to face the hazards of
summer heat or the extreme cold in winter season, for silkworm rearing. Water is crucial in
sericulture in terms of production of quality leaf,higher yield and also in facilitating the
application of required dosage of fertilizers contributing to production of better quality leaf.

The mulberry silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) is very delicate, susceptible to environmental
fluctuations, and unable to stay alive on extreme natural fluctuation in temperature and
humidity because of their long years of domestication for 5000 years. The growth and
development of silkworm is greatly influenced by environmental conditions. The biological as
well as cocoon-related characters are influenced by ambient temperature, rearing seasons,
quality mulberry leaf, and genetic constitution of silkworm strains.

Constraint related to silkworm performance

As silkworms are cold-blooded animals, temperature will have a direct influence on various
physiological activities. In general, the early instar larvae are resistant to high temperature
which also helps in improving survival rate and cocoon traits. As wide variation of temperature
is prevailing in this drought prone zone which is harmful in turn results in the poor growth of
silkworm. Rise in temperature increases various physiological functions and with a fall in
temperature, the physiological activities are lowering gradually. Increased temperature during
silkworm rearing particularly in late instars accelerates larval growth and shortens the larval
period. On the other hand, at low temperature, the rate of growth is slow and the larval period
is prolonged. The optimum temperature for normal growth of silkworms varies between 20°C
and 28°C and the desirable temperature for maximum productivity ranges from 23°C to 28°C.
Temperature more than 30°C directly affects the health of the worm. If the temperature is below
20°C all the physiological activities are retarded, especially in early instars; as a result, worms
become too weak and susceptible to various diseases. The temperature requirements during the
early instars (I, II, III) are high and the worms feed actively, grow very vigorously, and lead to
high growth rate. Such vigorous worms can withstand better even at adverse conditions in later
instars. The optimum temperature required for rearing silkworms of different early instars are
as described in the following table.

Requirements of ideal temperature and humidity during silkworm rearing

I II III IV V Cocoon
Environmental Incubation Spinning
instar instar instar instar instar preservation
factors
Temperature 25°C 28°C 27°C 26°C 25°C 24°C 25°C 25°C
Relative 85– 70– 65–
75–80% 85% 80% 70% 80%
humidity 90% 75% 70%

Management of temperature and humidity for successful crop

• Generally, the room temperature is low during winter and rainy season, which should
be regulated by heating the room with electric heaters or clay fire pots. Besides this, the doors
and windows should be kept closed particularly during night. Late in the day, as the outside
temperature goes up, doors and windows should be opened to allow warm air to the room.
During the summer season when day temperature is high, all the windows should be kept open.
Simultaneously, windows and doors are covered with wet gunny cloth during arm part of the
days for lowering the temperature and in order to increase humidity water should be sprinkled
on the roof or using wet sand.
• Good cross ventilation will help to reduce the body temperature of the silkworm.
The success of the sericulture industry depends upon several factors, but ideal environments
are the major components. Among the abiotic factors, temperature plays a major role in the
growth and productivity of silkworms.

Humidity also indirectly influences the rate of withering of the leaves in the silkworms rearing
beds. Under dry conditions especially winter and summer the leaves dry up very fast and
consumption by larvae will be less in turn affects growth of the larvae and results in wastage
of leaf in the rearing bed. Stunted growth of young larvae makes them feeble and susceptible
to diseases. Humidity not more than 90% along with an ambient temperature of 26°C–28°C
it can grow without being greatly affected Seasonal even day to day fluctuation of humidity
affects silkworm growth vigorously. Therefore, in order to maintain humidity wax coated
(paraffin) paper is used to cover the rearing beds during young-age rearing to raise humidity
and to avoid leaf weathering. Otherwise, wet foam rubber pads or paper pads soaked in water
can also be used to increase humidity in the rearing beds. Rich farmers can use humidifiers
with humidistat to regulate humidity in the rearing room. However, it is important to lower
humidity to 70 percent or below during the moulting time in each instar to facilitate uniform
and good moulting. The seasonal changes, atmospheric humidity, and soil moisture percentage
have profound effect on the growth and quality of mulberry leaves, which in turn influence the
silkworm health and cocoon crop production and, therefore, suggest the importance of leaf
moisture both in palatability and assimilation of nutritive components of the leaf.

Environmental care during reeling

As we know, the reeling performance of cocoons and the quality of raw silk are found to be
very good in the case of cocoons spun under 27°C and 70% RH with air circulation of about
50 cm/s. The temperature and humidity during cocoon spinning have a direct bearing on
reliability and hence on raw silk yield of cocoons and quality of raw silk. The high temperature
and high humidity in the absence of air circulation affect very severely the reeling performance
and quality of raw silk. Temperature and humidity maintained during cocoon spinning will
influence the cocoon especially the quality of sericine (silk protein), in turn, influences the
reeling performance and quality characteristics of raw silk.

Environmental factors of silkworm seed production

In the tropical plains of West Bengal, there is a high degree of fluctuation in temperature and
humidity throughout the year. With this, ovulation, fecundity and retention of eggs in
mulivoltin silk moths, Bombyx mori (L.) [race-nistari] vary in different seasons. During high
summer exposure of seed cocoons to high temperature of 35˚C in combination with low relative
humidity results in decreased egg recovery and increased incidence of unfertilized eggs.

Silkworm diseases monitoring and management

As these areas of South West Bengal have not practiced that much of mulberry sericulture,
negligible impact of insect pest attacks and did not pose any threats to the mulberry and
mulberry silkworm so management, prevention and control of silkworm diseases such as
Pebrine, Grasserie, Flacherie, and Muscardine is not great tasks here, nonetheless the organic
inputs along with bio-fertilizers might have had strong influence for leaf productivity and
abatement of disease and pests.

1.7 Summary:

Sericulture is an agro-based cottage industry which involves rearing of silkworms relevant to

production of raw silk. It is obvious insects are plentiful and potential objects are needed for
conservation. Leaf yield in mulberry or cultivation of host plants depends on multiple factors,
some of them are environmental and some economic. As we know good growth of mulberry
plant and maximum leaf yield has been possible in the fertile soil having slightly acidic pH (6.2
-6.8) along with good water holding capacity. Whereas in lateritic drought prone area of south
west Bengal the soil character changes from loams and sandy clay to loams with concretions,
pH value ranges between5.0 to 6.5. So, Leaf yield is far below the potential due to various
agronomical practices noticeably, limited water resource and poor soil moisture conservation.
Therefore, it may be concluded that adoption of a a location specific technology is very much
essential to include the vast lateritic soil of South west Bengal for both host plant cultivation
and silkworm rearing for future development of sericulture towards boosting rural economy.