Abstract
Variation in the size of the silk filament will determine the uniformity and quality of the silk reeled. In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the filament size variation in 6 multivoltine parental breeds and 9 multivoltine ${\times}$ bivoltine hybrids in all three seasons of a year. All multivoltine breeds and multivoltine ${\times}$ bivoltine hybrids showed variation in filament size throughout its length from the outer layer to inner layer. Results of the present study indicated that the size of the filament decreased from outer to inner layer. The decrease in filament size was sudden in some breeds/hybrids whereas it was gradual in other. Relationship between filament length to that of slope, average filament size to slope, and maximum filament size to slope was determined based on regression analysis. Regression analysis revealed significant positive correlation between slope vs average filament length (r=0.92$^{**}$) in multivoltine${\times}$bivoltine hybrids. Among parental breeds, 96C showed lowest slope of the curve (b-value: -0.00428) and 96A showed highest slope of the curve (b-value: -0.00269). Among 9 hybrids, PM${\times}$N $B_4$ $D_2$ recorded lowest slope value (b-value: -0.00328) and BL24${\times}$N $B_4$ $D_2$ showed highest value for slope of the curve (b-value: -0.00234). The breed 96C, which showed lowest slope value can be utilized for future breeding programmes to breed strains with less size deviation. Three multivoltine${\times}$bivoltine hybrids viz., PM${\times}$N $B_4$ $D_2$, 96E${\times}$CSR19 and BL67${\times}$CS $R_{101}$ , which showed less slope values (b-values: -0.00328, -0.00300 and -0.00297 respectively) can be utilized for commercial exploitation to produce uniform silk.k.