Effect of Pesticide Residue in Soil on Silkworm, Bombyx Mori L- Survey Analysis

Silkworm larval mortality specifically during spinning stage leading to non-spinning with specific morphological symptoms was frequently complained by sericulturists in Karnataka, India during 2015. Survey was conducted and information collected through questionnaire from the identified farmers who faced the problem of non-spinning in both traditional and non-traditional areas of Karnataka. Survey results indicate that the problem is specific to the silkworm crop of those farmers' who shifted from other crops of agriculture/ horticulture/olericulture/ floriculture to Sericulture. Silkworm rearing performance of the batches fed with these leaves confirmed that the pesticide sprayed to the crops previous to mulberry, remain in the soil and when mulberry plantation is taken up in these gardens, the pesticide is absorbed by the roots of mulberry plants and transported to the leaves. Silkworms that feed on these mulberry leaves, grow and ripen normally but during spinning stage, larvae die with external symptoms like regurgitation, body shrinkage, rectal protrusion later become hook shaped leading to non-spinning or partial metamorphosis into pupa and death or spin flimsy cocoons. Larval mortality ranged from a minimum of twenty five percent to a maximum of hundred percent. The problem was noticed from the first harvest of leaves and lasted for a maximum period of 36 months. Cocoon crop loss depends on the concentration, duration and type of pesticides used previously for other crops.