UNIT IV

Introduction to Sericulture

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.
Global share of Silk
China: 83 %
India: 14 %
Brazil: 1%
Other: 2%
• At present, 23 Indian states are involved in the production of silk
• Among these, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Jammu and
Kashmir are traditional and others are non-traditional sericultural states.
• Indian sericulture is distributed both in temperate and tropical zones.
• Temperate sericulture is limited to Kashmir, sub-Himalayan and other hilly regions.
• The rest of India practices tropical sericulture.
In the temperate region, sericulture can be practiced only once in a year i.e., during spring season
but in tropical region sericulture can be practiced throughout the year.

Raw silk production in India:

Multivoltine Mulberry: 83%

Bivoltine mulberry: 6%

Muga: 1%

Eri: 8 %

Tasar: 2%
VOLTINISM:

 Voltinism refers to the number of broods raised per year. It is a genetically determined
character which exerts its effect through hormones.
 Based on voltinism, three kinds of races are recognized in mulberry silkworm,
Univoltines, bivoltines and multivoltines.
Mulberry silkworms can be categorized into 3 different, but connected groups or types. The
major groups of silkworms fall under the univoltine ('uni-'=one, 'voltine'=brood frequency) and
bivoltine categories.
 The Univoltine breed is generally linked with the geographical area within greater
Europe. The eggs of this type hibernate during winter due to the cold climate, and cross
fertilise only by spring, generating silk only once annually.
 The second type of breed is called Bivoltine and is normally found in Asian regions such
as China, Japan, and Korea and India. The breeding process of this type takes place
twice annually, a feat made possible through the slightly warmer climates and the
resulting two lifecycles.

 The Polyvoltine breed of mulberry silkworm can only be located in the tropics. The
eggs are laid by female moths and hatch within nine to twelve days, so the resulting type
can have up to 8 separate lifecycles throughout the year.
Classification based on voltinism:
Voltinism refers to the number of breeds raised per year. Voltinism is a genetically determined
heritable character under hormonal control.
 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 superior.
 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.
Different Types of Silkworm
1. Mulberry silkworm (Bombiciidae: Order: Lepidoptera )
2. Tasar Silkworm (Saturniidae: Order: Lepidoptera)
3. Oak Tasar Silkworm (Saturniidae: Order: Lepidoptera)
4. Eri Silkworm (Saturniidae: Order: Lepidoptera)
5. Muga Silkworm (Saturniidae: Order: Lepidoptera)

Major insects Host plants Major states

1. Mulberry silkworm - Bombyx Mulberry plant (Morus Karnataka, AP,

mori (Bombicidae) spp) WB, TN, J&K

2. Tasar silkworm Asan- Terminalia Bihar, Orissa, MP, UP,

i) Tropical tasar- Antheraea tomentosa AP, Maharashtra,
mylitta (Saturniidae) Arjun- T. arjuna Karnataka
Soal- Shorea robusta
Ber- Zizyphus jujuba

ii) Temperate tasar – Oak tree, Quecus sp. Manipur, HP, UP,
Antheraea proylei Assam, Maghalaya and
J&K
(Saturniidae)
3. Eri silkworm – Samia Castor (Ricinus Meghalaya, Nagaland,
ricini (Saturniidae) communis) Manipur, Arunachal
Pradesh

4. Muga Silkworm – Som (Machilus Assam

Antheraea assamensis bombycina)
(Saturniidae)
Soalu (Litsaea
polyantha)
1. Mulberry silkworm (Bombiciidae:
Order: Lepidoptera )

2. Tasar Silkworm (Saturniidae:

Order: Lepidoptera)
 3. Muga Silkworm (Saturniidae:
Order: Lepidoptera)

4. Eri Silkworm (Saturniidae:

Order: Lepidoptera)
• Mulberry silkworm:
• 95% production in world
• Area in India- 2,15,000 ha
• Producing – 7,700 tones/annum
• Karnataka – 4,059 tonnes (60%)
• AP- 1250 tonnes
W. Bengal – 717 tonnes
 Eggs are of 2 types:
 The diapause (or hibernating) type of eggs :laid by the silk moth inhabiting in
temperate regions
 The non-diapause (or non-hibernating) eggs :silk moths inhabitating in sub-tropical
regions like India
SILK GLAND:
 Silk secretion: 60-70% fibroin tough, elastic and insoluble
20-25% sericin gelatinous (gummy), hot water soluble protein

• The weight in gm of 900 m long silk filament is called a “Denier”.

• A single cocoon weight is 1.8 to 2 gm and its shell (without enclosed pupa) is only 0.45
gm.
• About 2500 cocoons yield 0.45 kg of silk.
SERICULTURE ORGANIZATION IN INDIA:
• International Sericulture Commission (ISC)
• Central Silk Board (Bangalore)
• 3 Central Sericultural Research and Training Institutes (CSR & TIs )-Mysore, West
Bengal, J&K
• Central Tasar Research and Training Institute, Ranchi
• Central Sericultural Germplasm Resources Centre, Hosur (TN)
• Central Seed Technology Laboratory, Bangalore (Karnataka)
• Central Muga Eri Research and Training Institute, Assam

Sericulture : 3 division
1. Agricultural division- Cultivation of mulberry
2. Entomological division- rearing of silkworm
3. Reeling of cocoons- Technical division

Agricultural division- Cultivation of mulberry

MULBERRY CULTIVATION (Moriculture):
Some sp of mulberry
• Morus nigra
• M. alba
• M. laevigata
• M. latifolia

Family Moraceae (especially Morus spp.)

 ECOLOGICAL REQUIREMENTS
Climate

 Grown upto: 800 m MSL.

 Mean atmospheric temperature: 13°C to 37.7°C.

 Temperature: 24 and 29°C

 Relative humidity: 65 to 80 %

 sun shine duration: 5 to 12 hours/day.

 Rainfall: 600mm to 2500mm.

 Under low rainfall conditions, the growth is limited and requires supplemental irrigation.

 On an average, 50mm once in 10 days is considered ideal for mulberry.

Soil

 Slightly acidic soils (6.2 to 6.8 pH) free from injurious salts

 Saline and alkaline soils are not preferred.

MULBERRY VARIETIES
Irrigated: Kanva 2, MR 2, S 30, S 36, S 54, DD (Viswa), V1
Semi irrigated: Kanva 2, MR 2
Rainfed : S 13, S 34, RFS 135, RFS , 175, S 1635

PROPAGATION OF MULBERRY

 Propagated through cuttings.

 Cuttings may be planted straight away in the main field itself or nursery may be raised
and the sprouted and rooted saplings may be planted in the main field.

 The latter method is advisable because of its easy establishment in the main field.

SELECTION OF PLANTING MATERIAL

 Semi-hardwood cuttings.
 From well established garden of 8-12 months old.
 Only full grown thick main stems, free from insect and disease damages having a
diameter of 10-12mm are chosen for preparation of cuttings.
 The cuttings should be of 15-20 cm with 3-4 active buds and should have 45°slanting cut
at the bottom end.
 Care should be taken to make a sharp clean cut at both the ends of cuttings without
splitting the bark.
 Manually/power operated mulberry cutter (stem cutting machine) is available for quick
cutting of propagation material.

NURSERY BED PREPARATION

 Select 800 sq.m. area of red loamy soil near water source for raising saplings for planting
one hectare of main field.
 Apply 1600 kg of Farm Yard Manure (FYM) @ 20 t/ha and mix well with the soil.
 Raise nursery beds of 4m x 1.5m size.
 The length may be of convenient size depending upon the slope, irrigation source, etc.
 Provide a drainage channel and avoid shady area.
 Pre-treatment of cuttings
 Mix one kilogram of Azospirillum culture in 40 liters of water.
 Keep the bottom end of the cuttings for 30 minutes in it before planting. Azospirillum is
applied for inducement of early rooting.
 Nursery planting
 Apply VAM @ 100 g/m2 of nursery area.
 Irrigate the nursery bed.
 Plant the cuttings in the nursery at 15 cm x 7 cm spacing at an angle of 45°.
 Ensure exposure of one active bud in each cutting.

NURSERY MANAGEMENT

 Irrigate the nursery once in three days.

 Dust one kg of any one of the following chemicals around the nursery bed to avoid
termite attack. 1. malathion 5D 2. quinalphos 1.5 D
To avoid root rot and collar rot, drench the soil with carbendazim 50 WP (2 g/l) or
apply Trichoderma viride 0.5 g/m2 using rose can.
 After weeding, apply 100 g of urea/m2 between 55 and 60 days after planting at the time
of weeding.
 Age of sapling: ready for transplanting in the main field after 90-120 days of planting.

PLANTING METHODS

 Paired row system : Plant the cuttings/saplings at a spacing of 75 / 105 cm x 90 cm.

 Raise intercrops in the wider inter row space (amenable for mechanization also).
 No. of cuttings / ha. - 27,780 (60 x 60 cm) ; 12,345 (90 x 90 cm)

Spacing (cm)
Planting method
Irrigated Rainfed

Ridges and furrows 60 x 60 / 90x90 90 x 90

Pit system 90 x 90 90 x 90

TIME OF PLANTING

• Plant during rainy season

• Avoid planting during winter and summer months
Planting of saplings
• Plant the well rooted and sprouted saplings at a depth of 15-20 cm
• Earth up and level the area around the saplings
• Gap fill during monsoon months.
• Nutrient management :

a) Irrigated / semi irrigated (kg/ha)

Row system Pit system

 N P K N P
K
Recommendation 120
300 120 120 280 120

Split doses

First crop 60 60 60 60 60 60

Second crop 60 - - 40 - -

Third crop 60 60 60 40 - -

Fourth crop 60 - - 60 60 60

Fifth crop 60 - - 40 - -

Sixth crop - - - 40 - -

• For V1, fertilizer schedule is 375 : 140 : 140 kg NPK/ha.

• Apply fertilizers as per soil recommendation wherever possible
• Apply the first dose of fertilizers three months after planting
• Follow subsequent fertilizer application after each leaf harvest and pruning
• Apply straight fertilizers to minimize the cost

• b) Rainfed (Kg/ha)

N P K

Recommendation 100 50 50
First dose 50 50 50
Second dose 50 - -
• Apply the first and second doses coinciding with South West and North East monsoons
respectively.
• Bio-fertilizers
• Apply Azospirillum @ 20 kg/ha in five split doses.
• Apply phosphobacterium @ 10 kg/h in two equal splits.
• Mix the bio-fertilizers with 50 kg of FYM for uniform distribution
• Ensure irrigation after application
• Do not mix bio-fertilizers with inorganic fertilizers
• Growing and insitu incorporation of sunnhemp.
• Micro nutrients
• Apply recommended major/secondary nutrients based on the deficiency symptoms.
• For micro nutrients according to the deficiency symptom expressed, apply micronutrients
as foliar spary @ Zinc sulphate 5 g, Ferrous sulphate 10 g, Borax 2.5 g, Copper sulphate
2.5 g, Manganese 2.5 g or Sodium molybdate 100 mg/lit of water using high volume
sprayer (spray fluid 500 lit/ha).
• Add wetting agent, Teepol @ 0.5 ml/lit. for better adherence on the foliage.

METHODS OF IRRIGATION
a. Ridges and furrows method
• Most efficient method of irrigation
• Comparatively requires less amount of water
• The furrows serve as drainage channels during heavy rainfall.
b. Flat bed method
• Rectangular beds and channels are formed
• Water run off is relatively low
• More land is wasted and requires more labour for field preparation.
• Most efficient in water use
• Substantial saving in irrigation water
• Better crop growth
• Suitable for undulating terrains
• Fertilizers can also be applied along with irrigation water
• Clogging of emitters by physical, chemical and biological impurities
• Initial cost is very high
• WEED FLORA
The common weed flora in the mulberry garden is given below.
 Botanical name English name
1. MONOCOTYLEDONOUS WEEDS (Grassy weeds

Cyperus rotundus
Nut grass
Cynodon dactylon Bermuda grass

2. DICOTYLEDONOUS WEEDS (Broad leaves

Abutilon indicum Velvet leaf

Amaranthus viridis Pig weed

Acalypha indica Copper leaf

Boerhaevia diffusa Hog weed

Croton sparsiflorus Croton

Parthenium hysterophorus Carrot grass

Trianthema portulacastrum Carpet grass

Tridax procumbens Tridax

• INTEGRATED WEED MANAGEMENT

Cultural method

• Remove the stubbles and roots of weeds while preparing the land
• Use well decomposed manure to avoid dissemination of weeds
• Clean the implements before use
• Mechanical method
• Operate country plough after pruning in the interspace
• Remove the weeds by hand hoe
• Chemical method
• As post-emergence application, use Paraquat (Grammoxone) @ 2-3 lit/ha.
• Spray Glycel 7.5 ml with 10 grams of ammonium sulphate per litre of water as post-
emergence application. A total of 600 litres of spray fluid is required/ha.
• Use flooding / deflector / fan type nozzle for spraying weedicide. Apply the weedicide
immediately after pruning or within 2-3 days after pruning.

INTERCROPPING
Intercropping with short duration pulse crop enriches the soil, gives additional
revenue and also controls the weed growth. Grow any one of the following crops /
varieties as intercrop
Black gram - Co 5, VBN 1, VBN 3, VBN 4
Green gram - Co 5, Paiyur 1, Pusa bold, VBN 2, VRM 1, Co 6
Cowpea - Co 4, Co 5, Pusa 152
• Seed rate : 10 kg/ha
• Sow the intercrop after pruning and earthing up

• MULCHING
Mulching with pruned mulberry twigs and other materials like straw and dried
leaves will have the following advantages
• Controls weed growth
• Conserves soil moisture by reducing run-off
• Increases the infiltration of water
• Reduces the soil temperature

• PRUNING METHODS
i) Bottom pruning
The plants are cut at ground level leaving 10-15 cm stump above the ground.
This type of pruning is done once in a year.
ii) Middle pruning
The branches are cut at 40-60 cm above the ground level. After bottom pruning,
subsequent cuts are made at 45-50 cm height.
iii) Kolar or Strip system
In closely planted area, this type of pruning is done. The branches are cut at
ground level every time. Thus, it receives five prunings every year. This type of severe
pruning requires heavy fertilization and irrigation.
Harvesting
 The method of leaf harvest depends on the type of rearing practiced. It is
preferable to harvest the leaves during morning hours. There are three methods of
harvesting of mulberry leaves

• Leaf picking

• Individual leaves are harvested with or without petiole. Leaf picking starts 10 weeks
after bottom pruning and subsequent pickings are done at an interval of 7 - 8 weeks.
Branch cutting
The entire branches are cut and fed to the worms. Before that, topping is done to ensure
uniform maturity of the lower leaves.

• Whole shoot harvest

• The branches are cut at ground level by bottom pruning. Shoots are harvested at an
interval of 10-12 weeks and thus 5 to 6 harvests are made in a year.

Time of harvest: It is preferable to harvest the leaves during morning hours can be done
during late evening.

Preservation of leaves
Use leaf preservation chamber or wet gunny bags to store the leaves or cover the
bamboo basket with wet gunny bags to keep it cool and fresh.
• Silkworm grows best when fed with succulent leaves which are rich in nutrients and
moisture.
• The leaves, if not preserved properly, dry up and become unsuitable for feeding.
• The harvested leaves must be preserved in fresh condition in a wet gunny cloth.
• If the climate is too hot and dry, the leaves are preserved in a leaf chamber which is lined
with gunny cloth.
• The cloth is kept wet by spraying water at frequent intervals.

SEVEN MAIN STEPS INVOLVED IN REARING PROCESS OF SILKWORM. THE

STEPS ARE:

1. Disinfection
2. Brushing
3. Feeding the Larvae
4. Spacing
5. Bed Cleaning
6. Caring during Moulting
7. Mounting.
Sericulture Technology :: Rearing House

Rearing House

• A separate house is ideal for rearing of silkworm

• The rearing house should have sufficient number of windows to permit cross ventilation.
• Provision should be made to make it air tight for proper disinfection.
• Rearing house has to be built in such a way to provide optimum temperature of 26-28º c
and RH of 60-70% for the growth of silkworm at minimum operational cost
Important principles
The most important principles to be remembered in silkworm rearing house are :
Avoid
* Damp condition
* Stagnation of air
* Direct and strong drift of air
* Exposure to bright sun light and radiation
Ensure
* An equable temperature and humidity
* Good ventilation.

Features:
• Rearing house should be built depending on the bruhsing capacity and the method of
rearing.
• The rearing area of 2 sq.ft/ dfl for floor rearing
• 3 sq. ft/ dfl for shoot rearing is the general criteria
• Rearing house should have a
• main rearing hall,
• an ante room (8 x 8 ft) and
• leaf preservation room.
• Maintaining a separate chawki room (a must for two- plot rearing system;
• rearing room of size 10‟ x 14‟ with a height of 9-10 ft for an acre of garden) ideal.
• Rearing house should face east-west direction.
• Rearing house should have facilities to maintain the required environmental conditions.
• Growing trees around rearing house helps to maintain favourable environment
• Rearing house should be constructed taking consideration the following points such as
effective disinfection, washable floor, etc.
• 480 sq.ft area is required for rearing 100 dfls.

• Preparation of rearing house

Rearing room is to be kept ready after disinfection at least 3-4 days in advance of
commencement of rearing.

• Preconditioning of the rearing house is essential ie, arrangement of rearing appliances

• provision of essential environmental conditions one day in advance.

REARING APPLIANCES

Appliances used for keeping the worm

• Rearing stand: used for supporting the rearing trays which are placed in vertical rows.
• Rearing trays: Silkworm are accommodated and fed in the rearing trays and these are
placed one above the other. Circular bamboo trays are the most commonly used in India.

• Ant well: placed below the legs of the rearing stand, filled with water to prevent ants.

• Paraffin paper: thick craft paper coated with paraffin wax is used to prevent evaporation
of moisture and to maintain high humidity in the rearing bed. polythene sheets, dried
banana leaves and dried banana barks.

• Foam rubber strips: used to maintain high humidity in the bed of young worm.

• Chop stick: Used for picking the diseased worm away from the bed.

• Feather: bird feather used for brushing newly-hatched larvae from the egg card to the
rearing trays and to spread the young worms during the spacing operations.
 Appliances used for feeding

• Leaf basket: bamboo baskets of convenient size used for collecting and transporting the
mulberry leaves from the filed to the rearing house.
• Leaf chamber: to stored harvested mulberry leaf
• Chopping board: rectangular board made of soft wood used for cutting mulberry leaf
• Chopping knife: for chopping mulberry leaves prior to feeding larvae.
• Mats: placed below the chopping board prior to chopping and used to collect cut leaves.
Clean newspaper can be used.
• Feeding stand: folding stand on which the trays removed from the stand are placed, one
at a time for feeding and bed cleaning.

Appliances used for bed cleaning

• Nets for different mesh size made of cotton or nylon thread are placed above the trays
• On which fresh mulberry leaves are sprinkled to enable the silkworms crawls from the
old bed which can be cleaned.
• Cloth/paper can be used and made holes to crawls from the old bed.

Appliances used to support the spinning larvae

• Cocoonage or mountage
• Determines both quality and the quantity of good cocoons harvested and their
performance.
• Made of wood, bamboo, card-board, plastic, grass, dry leaves and twigs.
• Optimum space: 0.9 to 1.0”
• Optimum height: 4 and 6”

What is a Mountage?

• To provide an angular uniform space for spinning silkworm

• Determining quality of cocoons and price fixation in the market
• Good Mountage is .……….
 Convenient for mounting
 Sufficient and uniform cocooning space
 Efficient moisture absorb
 Cheap, durable and easily available locally
 Amenable for disinfection
 Ease of cleaning and storage
 Ease of harvesting
 Traditional mountages: made of coconut fronds, mango leaves, wild bush, paddy straw.
 Cocoons are shabby, irregular in shape, poor quality commercially not viable.
 Chandrika: made of bamboo or plastic
 Bamboo mountages: cheap, easy to handle, mount and harvest
 but easily damage by rodent, required more space, cleaning time comsuming, occurrence
of stained cocoons is more.

TYPES OF MOUNTAGE:

1. Traditional Bamboo Mountage (Chandrike)

• Common in Southern part India

• Standard Size 180x120 cm (6‟x4‟)
• Can accommodate 900-1000 mature worms
• turned upside down after 8 – 12 hours

• ADVANTAGES
 Easy availability
 Absorbs moisture easily

• DEMERITS
 Falling of dead and diseased larvae on the floor leads to contamination
 Separate space required for mounting and storage of mountages
 Due to sagging of spirals - uneven space for cocoon construction
 More space required for storage
 Time and labour consuming for mounting
 Difficulty in handling of mountages
 Less life span (about 3 - 4 years)
2. Screen type mountage: evolved by CSR&TI, Mysore.
• Longitudinal strips with triangular peaks are used.
• Can folded and stored
• Good quality cocoon are spun.
• DEMERITS: form double cocoons
3. Plastic mountages: made of plastic based on model of chandrika.
• Lesser number of double cocoon
• Demerits: costlier, recommended to rear on wooden trays. Need more space
• Cocoon are not uniform size
. Bamboo strip mountage: made from bamboo strips and wooden reepers.
• Worms spin their cocoons in between the strips.
• Place one above another

Advantages:
1. durable
2. Easy to handle
3. Occupies less space
4. Less damage to pupae
5. Uniform size and shape cocoon
6. Air circulate so quick drying of the cocoon
7. Easy to harvest
8. No extra mountage hall
9. Easy to maintain for disinfection and storage

5. Plastic Collapsible mountage

Standard size 90x60 (3‟x2‟)
Can accommodate 300-350 larvae
• MERITS
• Light wieght
• Less space for storage
• Easy to handle and disinfect

• DEMRITS
• Loses size, shape and corrugation
• Easily damaged by rodents

6. Rotary mountage
 Size 55 cm x 40 cm
 Eahc ste accommodate 1560 larvae
 Advantage
o Uniform size and shape
o Defective cocoons are less
o Easy-harvesting
o Storage and disinfection
o Higher reelability and improved reeling parameters
 Disadvantages
o High initial investment
o Separate space for mounting
o Not readily available
7. Bottle brush mountage
 Made of either bamboo or plastic
 Can accommodate 450 – 500 worms
 Life span 3-4 years for bamboo and 10 years for plastic mountages
 Merits
a. Urinated cocoons are minimum
b. Easy to disinfect, mount and harvest
c. Improved cocoon quality and reelability
 Demerits
a. Initial investment is high
b. Not popular among farmers
8. Bamboo spiral round mountage
 Common in West Bengal
 Length 150 cm
 Diameter 90 – 120 cm (3‟ – 4‟)
 Accomodates 300 or 400 larvae

9. Twigs/ grass/ straw

 Mulberry, mango and red gram twigs are used
 Double cocoons are more
1. Sericulture Technology :: DISINFECTENT
DISINFECTION: It is the most important operation that to be carried out prior to the
commencement of rearing. Disinfection of everything including rearing places is carried out
by physical, chemical or radiation methods.

(i) Physical methods:

These are cheap, convenient and easy to operate, e.g.
(a) Sunlight:
Drying of rearing appliances in sunlight can cause disinfection. However, sun drying
cannot be carried out during winter and rainy seasons, and some appliances are likely to
be damaged by exposure to sunlight,
(b) Steam:
Disinfection by steaming may be used for rearing room and some appliances (not made
of bamboo or wood).
However, initial cost for installing the steaming apparatus like boiler and pipeline is high.
(c) Hot air:
It is also a good sterilising method but cannot be used in routine sericulture because of its
production cost.
(d) Chemical method:
• The most commonly used disinfection method in sericulture is chemical method.
• Chemicals generally used are non-toxic to man and animals, have broad spectrum
activity, stable and readily mixable with water and fair in cost.
• Chlorine as chloramine, iodine as iodophores, phenol as cresol and hexachlorophene,
formaldehyde as formalin (2%), bleaching powder, etc.
• These are used as spray or fumigant.
• Spray 2 % formalin with 0.3% slaked lime or
• 2.5 % chlorine dioxide with 0.5 % slaked lime @ 2 l/m2 area for disinfecting the rearing
house immediately after completion of rearing and three days before brushing.
• Dip the rearing equipments in 2 % bleaching powder solution and sun dry before use.
• Dust 5% bleaching powder with slaked lime powder @ 200 g/m2 around the rearing
house and passages and sprinkle water @ 1 lit / m2 floor area.

REARING PROCESS OF SILKWORM:

STEP # 2. BRUSHING:
• Brushing is the separation of newly hatched larvae from their egg shells and transferring
them to rearing trays from the egg cards.
• The newly hatched larvae are black, bristly and called ants.
Brushing is usually starts at 10 am when peak hatching occurs.
Preparation for brushing
• Before commencement of each rearing, the rearing equipments and rearing houses must
be thoroughly washed and disinfected with chlorine dioxide.
• Chlorine dioxide is sprayed on equipments, walls, roof and floor uniformly to destroy the
disease causing organisms.
• The rooms should be kept closed for about 24 hours after disinfection.
• The doors and windows should be kept open at least for 24 hours before commencement
of rearing to avoid traces of disinfectants.
• To disinfect rearing room and rearing appliances, chlorine dioxide can be used.
• 500 ml of chloride dioxide is mixed with 50 g of activator and this is dissolved in 20
litres of water.
• To this, 100 g of lime powder has to be mixed.
Incubation of egg and hatching
• Egg sheets should be spread out as a single layer in a chawki tray.
• Temperature of 25°C and humidity of 80 per cent.
• For this, paraffin papers and wet foam pads may be used.
• When the eggs come to head pigmentation stage (about 48 hours before hatching), they
should be kept in dark condition by wrapping them in black paper or by keeping them in
a box (black boxing).
• On the expected day of hatching, eggs are exposed to light, early in the morning to ensure
uniform hatching.
• This facilitates uniform development of embryo.
• Most of the eggs (90 to 95 per cent) will hatch in about 2 to 3 hours.
• Brushing can be done by various ways:
(a) Brushing from loose eggs:
• Fine meshed net or thin muslin cloth can be placed over the newly hatched larvae.
• Then freshly chopped mulberry leaves are sprinkled over that net / cloth.
• The larvae start to crawl up through the holes onto the leaves.
• After sometimes, the larvae along with leaves are gently tapped on the rearing bed.
(b) Brushing from egg cards:
From egg cards, newly hatched larvae can be transferred by the following:
(i) Feather:
Here the egg card is held vertically above freshly prepared rearing bed and then by gentle
strokes of a feather, the larvae are pulled out from the card on the rearing bed.
• However, this method is little bit crude and may cause some injury to the larvae.
(c) Husk:
• Here powdered husk is sprinkled over newly hatched larvae on the egg card.
• Then freshly cut mulberry leaves are sprinkled over the centre of husk.
• The larvae crawl up the husk to reach the leaves.
• After sometimes, the larvae are brushed from husk by means of a feather on the rearing
bed.
• However, in all cases of brushing, care should be taken not to touch the newly hatched
larvae with hands.
• Low cost method of preservation of eggs
• The eggs can be kept in an earthen incubation chamber.
After Brushing
• The hatched larvae should not be starved and they must be brushed on a paraffin paper in
a rearing tray or blue polythene sheet (Rearing bed).
• This is done by sprinkling chopped tender mulberry leaves of size 0.5 to 1 cm² over the
hatched larvae.
• The larvae crawl on to the leaves.
• After 8 to 10 minutes, the egg sheet is inverted over rearing tray and gently tapped.
• Worms that are still attached to the egg sheets should be gently removed to the tray with
a feather.
• A rearing bed is prepared and some more chopped leaves, if necessary, are sprinkled.
• To prevent drying of leaves and to maintain the required humidity in the rearing bed, wet
foam pads and paraffin paper covering are provided.

REARING PROCESS OF SILKWORM:

STEP # 3. FEEDING THE LARVAE:
• Both the quality and size of the cocoons depend mainly on the quality of mulberry leaves
fed by larvae during rearing.
• After a little practice, the amount of leaves that to be given per feeding to fulfill the
appetite of the worms, is adjusted.
• Depends on races and voltinism of the moths.
• Maximum amount should be given during the active feeding stage of instar
• No food should be given during moulting.
• In Indian sericulture, nowadays four feedings per day is allowed.
• In case of shoot and floor rearings, three feedings per day are sufficient.
• In all larvae, several feeding stages can be noticed during their development, viz., active
feeding stage when larvae feed maximum during the instar, sparsely feeding stage when
they eat less, usually at premoulting stage when larvae empty their gut; non-feeding stage
when the larvae do not take any food usually during moulting.
SERICULTURE TECHNOLOGY :: YOUNG AGE SILKWORM REARING
• In a tray of 120 cm x 90 cm x 105 cm size, 20 dfls are brushed and reared up to second
stage.
Selection of leaves
• From brushing to the end of second age, the larvae are fed with tender leaves.
• The leaves are selected from the largest glossy leaf, 3rd or 4th from the top.
• The next 6 to 8 leaves are used to rear the young age worms upto II moult.
• The size of the chopped leaf is around 0.5 to 1.0 sq.cm. during 2nd age.
• Illustrate with the help of a figure, the selection of leaves from a fully grown branch.
 REARING PROCESS OF SILKWORM:
STEP # 4. BED CLEANING:
 Accumulates some unconsumed leaves after each feeding, exuviae after moulting,
excreta, dead or diseased larvae, etc.
 All these if not cleaned, promotes the growth of different micro-organisms, generation of
heat and injurious gases and depletion of oxygen.
 Hence, it is very necessary to remove the litter periodically and the process of its removal
is called bed cleaning.
 Bed cleaning can be done by using paddy husk, straw and bed cleaning net.
 In the first age, 1 cleaning is given just a day before the worms settle for moulting.
 In the second age, 2 cleanings are given, one after resuming feeding and the other before
second moult.
 A net with mesh size of 0.5 x 0.5 cm is spread over the rearing bed and feeding is given.
 The worms crawl through the net and come to fresh leaves.
 The net along with the worms and leaves are transferred to another tray.
 The left over leaves and litter are discarded.
 During 3rd instar 3 times, i.e. after moult, before next moult and once in the middle.
 During 4th and 5th instars once/day in case of shelf rearing.
 However, in case of floor or shoot rearing, bed cleaning should be done once in each
instar.

REARING PROCESS OF SILKWORM:

STEP # 5. SPACING:
 Grow very rapidly increase in weight and size
 The total increase in weight from hatching to the end of Vth instar is about 7,000 to
10,000 times.
 Crowded situation in rearing trays results in increased humidity, heat, fermentation of
litter, all of which will in turn cause under development of larvae, wastage of feeding
leaf and unhygienic condition.
 To provide more and adequate space for the growing worm, the rearing space has to be
extended at each stage and this is called spacing.
  Spacing is usually done along with bed cleaning and is given once a day.
 The number of trays and space required for each instar are given below in Table.

No. of trays required for 100 DFLs Space required (sq. ft)

Stage of silk Beginning End of stage Beginning End of stage

worm
st
2 2 4 15
1 instar
th
20 40 181 360
5 instar

REARING PROCESS OF SILKWORM:

STEP # 6. CARING DURING MOULTING
 In commercial races of silkworm, moulting occurs four times, lasting for 15-30 hours.
 During this time, the worm does not take any food, wriggles out of the old skin and
comes out with a new, soft skin.
 Care taken during moulting includes stopping and resuming feeding at appropriate time
to ensure uniform growth,
 Keeping the bed dry and disinfected either by dusitng Resham Keed Oushad (RKO),
formulated by CSR and TI, Mysore or by spraying Labex, formulated by Berhampur.
 Besides disinfecting action, RKO can reduce grasserie in different seasons and can
increase growth rate of larvae leading to improved cocoon quality.
 Labex has anti muscardine effect and can inhibit early moulters from resuming feeding
leading to uniform growth.

Moulting
 At the time of moulting, care should be taken not to disturb the worms.
 Correct detection of moult and stopping or resuming feeds are very important for uniform
growth of silkworms.
 During moult, the rearing bed should be kept thin and dry by applying lime @ 30 – 50
g/m2 and should have proper aeration.

SERICULTURE TECHNOLOGY :: LATE AGE SILKWORM REARING

 The third, fourth and fifth instar larvae are considered as late age worms. They are reared
in bamboo trays.
 Newspapers are spread over the trays to absorb excess moisture in leaves and faecal
pellets.
 The temperature and humidity requirement gradually comes down as the stage advances.
 Leaves of medium maturity (6th leaf onwards) are fed in the third and fourth age and
coarse leaves are fed in the fifth age.
 Over matured and yellow leaves should be rejected, since they may induce disease
outbreak.

Bed disinfectants
 Apply bed disinfectants like TNAU Seridust, Resham Jyothi, Vijetha or Sajeevini
@ 4 kgs/100 dfls.

MOULTING
• Remove the paraffin papers
• Evenly spread the larvae in the rearing bed 6-8 h before settling for moult.
• Provide air circulation to avoid excess humidity inside the room.
• Provide charcoal stove/heaters to raise the room temperature during winter.
• Apply lime powder at 60 minutes before resumption of feeding daily during rainy/winter
seasons to reduce the dampness in bamboo trays.

REARING PROCESS OF SILKWORM:

STEP # 7. MOUNTING
Mounting
• Apply Sampoorna @ 20 ml (dissolved in 4 l of water) per 100 dfls over the leaves for
early and uniform spinning of cocoons.
• After attaining full growth in the final instar, the worms cease to feed and are ready to
spin.
• Such worms are slightly translucent and raise their heads to find a place for spinning.
• These worms have to be picked up and transferred to a mountage for spinning cocoons.
• Mounting of worms should not be delayed as the ripened worms will waste silk.
• About 800-900 worms per m² are to be kept on a mountage.
• For 100 dfls, about 30 to 40 chandrakis are required.
• Mountages should be kept under shade in well ventilated place.
Mounting is done by following methods:

(i) Hand picking:

• Ripe worms are collected in a tray one by one by hand and then transferred to the
mountages.
• Though some worms may be injured while picking and handling, but by this method,
only ripe worms can be picked and distributed more uniformly in the mountages.

(ii) Simultaneous mounting:

• In this method, a number of mature larvae is collected simultaneously and transferred to
the mountage.
• Here, mature, immature and over-mature worms are mounted together;
• hence, cocoon formed by them may not be uniform.

(iii) Net method:

• In the rearing tray, when worms are ripen, straw rope nets / rush nets or cleaning nets are
spread over the rearing beds and left for some time.
• Ripe worms crawl alone on the nets while unripe worms continue feeding.
• The nets with ripe worms are then shaken on the mountages to transfer them without
touching by hand.
• Too wide spacing may cause wastage of silk for spinning the preliminary web.
• Again, too close spacing may result in
• formation of double cocoon (which are not reelable),
• staining of cocoons with excreta of the worms and
• formation of damp cocoons.
• The optimum density for Chandrika is 50 worms per 0.1 m2.

(iv) Branch method:

• Here small branches of mulberry are spread over the rearing bed.
• Ripe worms crawling over them are then shaken off on the mountages.
• Besides branch, dried weeds (Russia) or cut straw (Japan) can also be used for
transferring the ripe worms to mountages.
 • Number of ripe worms per mountage is very important.
• In general, one ripe worm requires an area that is the square of its body length for
spinning its cocoon.

Precautions to be taken during mounting:

(i) Only ripe worms should be mounted.
• Unripe worms spoil other cocoons with their excreta while overripe worms hastily spin
cocoons which are malformed, flattened, sticky and inferior.
(ii) An optimum temperature (24°C) should be maintained in spinning place.
• Too low temperature causes delayed formation of cocoons, and affects colour, lustre and
texture of the silk.
• Too high temperature results in the formation of deformed cocoons with thick filament.
(iii) The ideal humidity for spinning is 60-70%.
• Ventilation is needed to dry the wet silk into firm cocoon and to evaporate the water or
excreta released by the worms during spinning.
(iv) The mountages should be disinfected before and after use.
The spinning worms should not be disturbed which otherwise would result suspension of
spinning and breaking of thread.

Care during spinning

• Quality of silk depends on the care taken at the time of spinning.
• Mature worms are sensitive to temperature, humidity, light, etc., at the time of spinning.
• The ripe worm requires space equal in area to square of the length of its body for
spinning.
• Proper spacing avoids wastage of silk for forming preliminary web and avoids double
cocoons.
• To prevent staining of cocoons, keep mountage in an inclined position so that the urine
may drop to the ground.

Maintenance of humidity
• Fluctuation of humidity causes abrupt thinning and thickening of silk filament.
• Relative humidity of 60-70% is ideal for spinning.
• Provide proper ventilation and straw mats below the mountage to quid excreta.
• Provide even and moderate lighting. Improper lighting (bright light or dark shadow)
causes crowding of larvae to shaded area leading to double cocoons.
• Remove dead worms and non-spinners on the 2nd day of spinning.
• To protect the silkworm from predatory ants, apply malathion 5% dust/lakshman rekha at
the base of mountage stand.

HARVESTING
• The silk worms complete spinning in 2 to 3 days but the cocoons should not be harvested
at this time as the worms inside are still in the prepupal stage.
• Harvesting should be done on the fifth day (7th day for bivoltine hybrids) when pupae are
fully formed and hard.
• Do not harvest when the pupa is in amber colour.
• Dead and diseased worms on the mountages should be removed before harvest.
• Marketing of cocoons should be done on the sixth day (8th day for bivoltine hybrids).

SILKWORM DISEASES AND THEIR MANAGEMENT

Silkworm suffers from several diseases and the silk cocoon crop failure or low harvest is
due to the diseases in silkworm.
Silkworm diseases are caused by germs and are highly infectious.
The development of diseases in silkworm is influenced by environmental and nutritional
factors such as temperature, humidity and mulberry leaf content.

COMMON DISEASES OF SILKWORM

The common diseases in silkworm are
1. Grasserie,
2. Flacherie and
3. Muscardine.
4. There is also an uncommon but dangerous disease i.e. Pebrine.

1. GRASSERIE DISEASE
Nuclear polyhedrosis commonly known as „Grasserie or Milky disease‟.
It is a major viral disease in silkworm.
Causative Agent: Bombyx mori Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (BmNPV).
 Seasonal Occurrence: The disease prevails all through the year and is more common in
summer and rainy seasons. Among the different diseases in silkworm, this disease
prevalence ranges from 33-55%.

Source of Infection:
 The grasserie diseased silkworms and their body fluid.
 Pathogen persisting in silkworm rearing house, appliances and silkworm waste in the
rearing environment.
 Alternate host insects for BmNPV.
Route of Infection: The mode of infection is (through mouth). The silkworm gets
infected when it feeds on mulberry leaf contaminated with BmNPV.

Factors responsible for disease incidence:

 Low temperature (< 20°C) and high temperature (above 28°C)
 High humidity (>80%) or low humidity (<40%)
 Inferior quality mulberry leaf with low protein and carbohydrate.

Symptoms:
 At the early stage of infection, the infected silkworm appears normal, but, during the
later stage of infection, the diseased larvae will have characteristic “swollen inter-
segmental” region (Fig.).
 The integument will be fragile and breaks easily oozing turbid milky fluid.
 The microscopic examination of milky fluid indicates the presence of millions of
polyhedral occlusion bodies.
 The larvae do not settle for moult and develop shining integument.

Management of Disease:
 Practice disinfection and hygiene in silkworm rearing.
 A spray of 0.3% slaked lime solution in addition to usual disinfection of rearing house
and appliances is recommended in case of high incidence of disease.
 Apply bed disinfectant Vijetha/Reshamkeet Oushadh/Resham Sanjeevini/ Resham Jyothi
after every moult before resumption and on 4th day of V instar.
 Dust slaked lime on silkworm settled for moult.
 Avoid low (10 - 20ºC) and high (28 - 35ºC) temperature and humidity (below 70 %) as
well as drastic changes in temperature and humidity during the rearing.
 Feed nutritious mulberry and provide required spacing and ventilation.
2. FLACHERIE DISEASE
Flacherie is a flaccid disease common in silkworm. It is a syndrome caused by either
viruses, bacteria or by an association of both.

Causative Agent: The disease is caused by Bombyx mori infectious flacherie virus
(Infectious Flacherie) and Bombyx mori densonucleosis virus (Densonucleosis) and in
association with bacteria or bacteria alone such as Streptococci / Staphylococci / Bacillus
sp. / Serratia bacteria.

Seasonal Occurrence: The disease prevails all through the year, primarily during winter
and rainy season. Among the diseases in silkworm, Flacherie accounts for 57.22% in
Karnataka.

Source of Infection:
 Flacherie diseased silkworms, their faeces, gut juice and body fluid.
 Pathogen persisting in silkworm rearing house, appliances and mulberry leaves.
 Alternate hosts.
Route of Infection: The silkworm gets infected on feeding the mulberry leaf
contaminated with above pathogens. Sometimes, the larvae also get infected through
injury.

Factors responsible for disease incidence:

 Fluctuation in temperature and humidity.
 Poor quality mulberry.
 Unhygienic condition including the accumulation of silkworm waste in the rearing bed,
overcrowded rearing and poor ventilation.
 Feeding wet leaves, unhygienic and humid condition in rearing.

SYMPTOMS:
Flacheri Virus mainly affected the midgut epithelial cells
At the early stage of infection:
• Larvae appear lethargic and lose appetite.
At the later stage of infection:
 • The Cephalothoracic region appears translucent.
• The larvae vomits gut juice and develop dysentery.
• Flacherie disease caused by virus results larvae with retarded growth, dull, soft
and flaccid.

In Flacherie caused by bacteria,

• Larvae become stunted in growth and develop flaccidity.
• The larvae on death putrefy, develop different colour and emit foul smell.
• Diseased larvae appear to lift its head up and vomits gut juice, paralyses, collapses and
dies
• Cephalic region bends to hook shape, rottens and smells foul

Management of Disease:
 Practice disinfection of silkworm rearing house, surroundings, appliances and
silkworm egg surface.
 Spray of 0.3% slaked lime solution in addition to usual disinfection procedure in case
of high incidence of the disease.
 Feed good quality of mulberry, provide requisite spacing and ventilation. Do not feed
wet mulberry. Avoid overcrowded rearing and accumulation of silkworm waste in the
rearing bed. Maintain optimum temperature and humidity.
 Practice hygienic measures during silkworm rearing. Ensure the measures for
destruction of diseased silkworm.
 Apply bed disinfectant Vijetha / Resham Sanjeevini after every moult and on 4th day
of V instar.

3. MUSCARDINE DISEASE
Muscardine is a disease caused by fungus in silkworm.

 White muscardine (Beauveria bassiana)

 Green muscardine ( Spicaria prasina)

 Black muscardine ( Metarhizium anisopliae) but sometimes also refer as Green

muscardine

 Yellow muscardine (Paecilomyces or Iscaria farinosus)

WHITE MUSCARDINE is the common fungal disease in India.
Causative Agent: White muscardine is caused by a fungus Beauveria bassiana.
 Seasonal Occurrence: The disease prevails during winter and rainy season in all
sericultural areas. Among the diseases, muscardine accounts for 19 %. The disease is also
common among in many agricultural pests.

Source of Infection:
 Mummified/diseased silkworms.
 Pathogen persisting in the silkworm rearing house and appliances and air- borne germs in
rearing environment.
 Several agriculture pests and wild insects as alternate hosts forming the source of
pathogen.

Route of infection:
 The mode of infection is per cutaneous (through skin). The infectious conidia grow and
penetrate through the integument and establish infection in silkworm.

Factors responsible for disease incidence:

Low temperature and high humidity
Overcrowded rearing.

SYMPTOMS:
The pathogen infects all stages of silkworm and symptoms are observed in all stages.

Egg stage:
Infected eggs are paler and conidia may be observed on the egg surface. Fungal
mycelium may also be observed inside and outside the infected egg. Infected eggs do
not hatch.

Larval stage:
a) The larvae loses appetite, inactive and on death flaccid. Vomiting and diarrhoea
may also be observed.
b) The larval body becomes less elastic and oil stain like or black marks without clear
border may be seen on the body surface.
c) Dead larvae gradually become harder and finally hard and mummifies.
d) The fungus overgrow the larvae, develops fruiting body and produce conidia on the
surface giving white colour to the mummified diseased silkworm.
Pupal stage:
 • The pupa may have black spots and the mummified pupa is hard, lighter and white.
• The fungus seen coming out through inter-segmental region.

Moth stage:
• Infected moths are sluggish with deformed wings.
• The dead moth becomes hard, light, mummified and white.
Management of disease:

 Practice disinfection of silkworm rearing house, surroundings, appliances and silkworm

egg surface.
 Practice hygienic measures during silkworm rearing.
 Ensure the measures for destruction of diseased silkworm.
 Regulate humidity by dusting slaked lime at the beginning of every moult and in
between, if necessary, to keep the rearing bed dry.
 Provide good ventilation.
 Apply bed disinfectant Vijetha, as per recommended schedule and quantity.
 As a specific measure, dust Vijetha supplement after every moult and on 3rd day IV
instar, 2nd and 6th day of V instar.
 Alternatively, apply Reshamkeet Oushadh / Resham Sanjeevini / Resham Jyothi / Labex
after every moult and on 4th day of V instar.

4. PEBRINE DISEASE
Pebrine is a chronic disease in silkworm.
Causative agent: A microsporidian, Nosema bombycis and strains of Nosema sp.
Seasonal Occurrence: The disease is known to occur at any time of the year and is not restricted
to any season.
Source of infection:
 The faeces of the diseased silkworms and dead larvae.
 Pathogen persisting in rearing environment, rearing house and appliances.
 Contaminated mulberry and surface contaminated egg shell.
 Mulberry and agricultural pests and wild insects as alternate hosts for the pathogen.

Route of infection:
The mode of infection is per mouth or the disease may be transmitted from mother to the
offspring.
Factors responsible for disease incidence:
Environmental conditions and nutritional status of mulberry do not cause disease incidence.

Symptoms:
The symptoms of infection could be observed in all stages of silkworm.

a. Egg stage:
• The eggs laid by moth are fewer and do not firmly attach to the egg sheet.
• The number of dead and unfertilized eggs is higher.
• The hatching is irregular and number of hatched eggs is fewer.

b. Larval stage:
• The diseased larvae will have poor appetite, retarded growth, undersized and flaccid.
• The larvae are comparatively paler, translucent and delays to moult.
• The silk gland will have white pustules on its surface.
• The dead larvae remain rubbery for sometimes and then turn black (Fig.).

c. Pupal stage:
• The diseased pupa may develop black markings on the surface.

d. Moth stage:
• The moth appears malformed. The wings are stunted and crippled.

Management of disease:
 Practice disinfection at silkworm seed production centre, silkworm rearing house,
surroundings, appliances and silkworm egg surface.
 Rear silkworm hatched from eggs prepared from pebrine free moths ascertained by
microscopic examination of the mother moth (Mother moth examination).
 Practice hygienic measures during silkworm rearing.
 Ensure measures for destruction of diseased silkworm / faecal matter / cocoons / eggs.
 Apply bed disinfectant, Vijetha as per recommended schedule and quantity.
 Control alternate insect host for Nosema bombycis in and around mulberry garden.

DISEASE MANAGEMENT
 Silkworm diseases are best prevented than cured.
  Disinfection and maintenance of hygiene are the important integral activities in silkworm
rearing to prevent the diseases.
 Diseased silkworms extrude pathogens into the rearing environment and form the source
of infection and spread of the diseases.
 These pathogens are highly stable and persist for long.
 It can be attained by various methods, but, the most effective method is chemical method
using chemicals as disinfectants.
 Disinfectants: Bleaching powder and Chlorine dioxide (Sanitech / Serichlor) with Slaked
lime are recommended disinfectants for any type of rearing house. Formalin is also used
in silkworm seed/egg production and disinfecting appliances.

PESTS OF MULBERRY SILKWORM

1. UZIFLY: Exorista sorbilans (Diptera : Tachinidae)
 Period of occurrence : Throughout the year, severity is more in winter months
 Maximum infestation is recorded during rainy season followed by winter.
 The infestation is least during summer months.

Factors responsible for outbreak of Uzifly

 Large scale and overlapping rearing of host (silkworm).
 Favourable climatic conditions (temperature range of 20 – 30°C and
 relative humidity of 60 – 90%) facilitates continuous host / silkworm rearing which in
turn helps the host availability.
 Increased adult (uzi fly) longevity.
 Higher egg production and egg hatchability.
 Reduced activity of the natural enemies like parasitoids, predators and pathogens in
nature.

SYMPTOMS
• Presence of creamy white oval eggs on the skin of larvae in the initial stage.
• Presence of black scar on the larval skin
• Silkworm larvae die before they reach the spinning stage (if they are attacked in the early
stage).
• In later stage, pierced cocoon is noticed.
 • Mature maggot causes reduction in yield of cocoons and cocoon quality.
• Causes death of silkworm larva.

MANAGEMENT
• Maintain sanitary and hygienic conditions in the rearing room.
• Provide physical barriers like wire mesh in the doors and windows of the rearing rooms.
• Spray 1 per cent benzoic acid over the larvae to kill the eggs of uzi fly.

a) Cultural / Mechanical
• Silkworm rearing in a village should be conducted at a time by all farmers.
• A minimum gap of 20 days should be maintained between the two silkworm rearings.
• The cracks and crevices on the rearing house floor must be kept closed.
• Collection and destruction of uzi infested silkworm larvae.
• Collection and destruction of uzi maggots and pupae from rearing house, grainage,
cocoon market and reeling establishment.
• Collection and destruction of adult uzi fly.

b) Exclusion is by avoiding the contact of uzi fly with the silkworm.

• Use nylon net enclosure to the rearing stand
• Fix wire mesh to windows and doors
• Provide a small ante-room at the entrance of rearing house. Cover the
• individual rearing tray with nylon net.

c) Physical
• Keep uzitrap solution in white trays near doors and windows (3 ft above ground level)
both inside and outside the rearing house to trap adult uzi fly.
• Dissolve the uzi trap tablets (uzicide) in the water (2 tablets/l) to attract the adults.
d) Biological: Release the gregarious, ectopupal hyperparasitoid, Nesolynx thymus
(Eulophidae: Hymenoptera) @ 1 lakh adults/100 dfls during night hours.
• Release the hyperparasitoid in three split doses @ 8000, 16,000 and 76,000/100 DFLs
during fourth and fifth instars and after cocoon harvest.

e) Chemical
• � Spray / dust the ovicides like uzicide / uzipowder to kill the uzi eggs laid on silkworm
body .
• � Spray 2% bleaching powder solution on the body of silkworm larvae to detach / kill
the uzi egg.

f) Legislative / Quarantine
• � Avoid transportation of uzi infested cocoons from infested area to new area.
• The above management methods when applied individually do not keep the pest
incidence below the economic injury level (5%).
• Hence, an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) package is developed for the suppression
of the pest by selecting a few effective management strategies listed above.
2. Dermestes Beetle: Dermestes spp. (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)
• Occurrence & Symptom:
• Adults and grubs are attracted to smell of cocoons in storage
• They eat the cocoons, enclosed pupae and often the eggs of silkworm
• They lay their eggs in crevices, organic matter and wooden boards
• Generally they attack the abdominal region of the moth.
• The damage is estimated to be 16.62% on cocoons and 3.57% on moths.

Factors responsible for pest outbreak

• � Storage of large quantities of moth pierced as well as stifled cocoons over a long
period of time (more than 6 months).

Preventive measures
• Storage of rejected cocoons and perished eggs for long period should be avoided.
• Provide wire mesh to door & windows in pierced cocoon (PC) storage rooms.
• Wooden articles of storage room & grainage should be dipped in 0.2% malathion solution
for 2-3 minutes.
• Trays etc., should be thoroughly washed & sun dried for 2-3 days before reusing.

Mechanical control:
• Collect the grubs and adults by sweeping or by using a vacuum cleaner, destroy by
burning or dipping in soap water.

Physical
• � Exposure of beetle infested (grubs and adults) pierced / stifled cocoons packed in
HDPE (black) bags to sunlight for a period of 6 hours.

Chemical control:
• Store pierced cocoons in Deltamethrin treated bags ie., soak the bags in 0.028%
Deltamethrin solution (1 ltr :100 ltr water) and dry in shade.
• Spray 0.028% Deltamethrin solution on walls and floor of PC room once in 3 months.

3. Ants (Monomorium spp., Formicidae: Hymenoptera)

• They attack silkworm in rearing tray

Management
• Legs of rearing stands should be dipped in antwells (filled with water+ insecticide)
• At the time of spinning, ash or kerosene is put at the handles of the mountage to keep the
ants off

4. Lizards, bird, rats and squirrels

• They feed on silkworms.
• Predate on the pupae by biting the cocoons

Management
• Rearing room should be kept free from lizard
• Birds should be scared away from the viscinity
• Trapping can be carried out for rats and squirrels