• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.139-143
• /
• 2003

Mathematical constants for multiplication with leaf length (I) or breadth (b) or l ${\times}$ b have been worked out for determining leaf area in promising mulberry genotypes viz., Chinese White, S-146, Chak Majra and Sujanpur Local of sub-tropical India. When pooled, the mathematical constants worked out were 8.1132, 10.1019 and 0.5992 for multiplication with leaf length, breadth and l ${\times}$ b, respectively, for genotypes bearing un-lobbed leaves and 6.9447, 8.2761 and 0.5009 for multiplication with leaf length, breadth and l ${\times}$ b, respectively for genotypes bearing lobbed leaves. Leaf area can be worked out by using any constant by multiplying either with leaf length or breadth or both (l ${\times}$ b). Estimated leaf areas worked out were found significantly and positively correlated with actual leaf area (r＝999$^{＊＊}$). The suggested present non-destructive method by using mathematical constants is very quick and alternative to electronic leaf area meter for spot leaf area determination in mulberry which is the only food source for mulberry silkworm in sericulture industry.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.79-86
• /
• 2000

Strengthening of R & D components of sericulture in India since the sixties has led to a quantum jump in silk production and presently India is the second largest producer in the world. This achievement is primarily due to a number of breakthroughs in R & D to match the requirements of tropics, by way of introduction of improved mulberry varieties and silkworm breeds, better mulberry cultivation and rearing management practices suited to tropical conditions. Of late, new approaches in molecular biology and biotechnology have also been vigorously pursued to strengthen the current conventional strategies. The present paper attempts to provide an overview of the present status of silk production in both mulberry and non-mulberry sectors, breakthroughs achieved through new approaches of biotechnology and the future prospects for maximizing silk productivity in India.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.107-111
• /
• 2005

Impact of microsporidian infection and season on reproductive potential of Bombyx mori L. was investigated in the laboratory. Microsporidian infection significantly (P<0.01) reduced fecundity and hatching and increased sterility and mortality of eggs. Among the microsporidia, Nosema sp. 2 infected silkworm produced eggs with least fecundity and hatching percent as well as highest dead and sterile eggs followed by Nosema sp. 1 and N. bombycis. Microsporidia, in general, significantly reduced fecundity and hatching percent of eggs and increased number of dead and sterile eggs in all the three seasons except N. bombycis in July - August (S3) and Nosema sp. 2 in January February (S1). Since, seed production is the anchor sheet of mulberry sericulture, coefficient of egg lying is considered as an important aspect and the industry quite often facing shortage of disease free layings. The present study indicates that B. mori is more susceptible to microsporidia during S2 followed by S3 and S1 and Nosema sp2. is most virulent followed by Nosema spl. and N. bombycis.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.51-55
• /
• 2006

Since 1970, China has become the biggest cocoon producer in the world, and made the highest historical record of cocoon output for 759,800 tons in 1995. However, in 1996 cocoon production reduced sharply to 470,900 tons. After a ten-year adjustment and reform, sericultural areas have shifted from developed regions to developing regions and from the east to the west. From 2000, the cocoon output has started to increase restoringly. By 2004 it recovered to 547,091 tons. With the development of market economy, sericulture management has been changed, including mulberry fields concentrated to the specializated households and cooperatives, cocoons produced in larger scale instead of individuals, Silkworm egg producing enterprises gradually changed into non-governmental joint-stock ones. The mechanism of market cocoon price has been gradually established. The management model of combination of trade, industry and agriculture is pushing and improving. It is the fruit of modern science and technology, especially sericultural basic research, that provides China's sericulture with the opportunity and vital force. China's sericulture, therefore, will continue to develop steadily in future.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.147-151
• /
• 2005

Serious attempt for the improvement of quality parameters in silkworm hybrids came rather very late in India. Realising the need for productive breeds to the field and reorientation in breeding methodology, the silkworm breeders of CSRTI, Mysore were able to develop silkworm breeds with fine denier namely, JPN7, CSR48, B63 and B65 of specific industrial requirement through directional selection. As the success of silkworm breeds mainly depends on their combining ability, the developed breeds were subjected for hybrid evaluation. Out of 42 bivoltine hybrids studied, one hybrid, $CSR48{\times}CSR5$ was identified for its superiority over the existing bivoltine hybrids namely $CSR2{\times}CSR4,\;CSR2{\times}CSR5\;and\;CSR18{\times}CSR19$ for majority of qualitative traits. Post cocoon testing of large quantity of cocoons of $CSR48{\times}CSR5$ resulted in the production of high quality '3A'grade silk. It is for the first time in the Indian Sericulture industry that high quality silk with longer filament length of 1474 m, denier of 2.47, standard size deviation of 0.983 d, maximum size deviation of 1.322, neatness of 96 p, reelability of $85\%$, tenacity of 3.87 g/d, elongation of $22.32\%$ and cohesion of 110 strokes was produced. The superiority of fine denier silkworm breeds and their hybrids are discussed.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.166-179
• /
• 2013

In India, forest based insect enterprises has never been linked up with any forest management activity, either as a forest conservation strategy or to reduce the poverty in forested area. This investigation indicated that when forest dependent people are associated with forest insect industry (FII) like forest sericulture, lac culture or apiculture; this income generating activity links livelihood with forest conservation, and generates a viable model of collaborative forest management (CFM). In this model different stakeholders work together as a coherent entity for unified goal of managing the forest for well-being of the poor people in fringe areas. Article summaries and evaluates the prospect of India specific forest insect industry, and discusses how and to what extent integration of FII could be a viable livelihood component in CFM to conserve the forest and insect biodiversity. We analysed a case study on forestbased rearing of tropical tasar silkworm rearing in Central India from CFM perspective. Arguments in this communication are intended to provide forest managers and policy-makers with necessary input to consider location specific FII in CFM mode to provide a continuous source of small income to forest dependent people to ensure long lasting success of their forest management endeavours.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
• /
• v.53 no.1
• /
• pp.38-43
• /
• 2015

To increase the income of sericultural farms and expand sericulture industry, new high value-added products of sericulture which are beyond current products like 5th instar 3 day dried silkworm, male pupa and silkworm dongchunghacho are needed. For this sericulture product diversification, it is in desperate need of the edible processing method after 5th instar 4 day silkworm that silkgland formation is rapidly in progress during the larva periods. So far it was hard to eat because of silkgland formation in their body. So we try to boil and steam frozen-, dried-, and living-silkworm to develop low-cost edible processing methods for farmers. As the result, the silkgland of frozen and dried silkworm was not degenerated, so silkgland in their body was not edible. But in the case of living silkworm, the silkgland of mature silkworm was degenerated by boil and steam treatment, so the body and silkgland of silkworm were not only edible but also tasted good. Then the dried silkworm was easily powdered and there was no problem when it was eaten. This source technology can be widely used in the general food industry, health functional food cosmetics, pet food and so on, so it is predictable that this will contribute to increase the income of sericulture farms and expand sericultural industry.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.81-86
• /
• 2006

Of all factors that govern productivity in sericulture, the role of silkworm egg is of prime importance. The production of silkworm seed involves a long chain of interdependent and highly specialized conditions. Female moths of Bombyx mori L. commence egg deposition immediately when the moths were decoupled. More than 60% of eggs are deposited within 4 hrs after decoupling i.e. 62.33% in CSR-3, 61.67% in CSR-6, 62.50% in CSR-16 and 63.28% in CSR-17. Almost 90% of eggs were laid in the first 12 hrs (93.13% in CSR-3, 90.81% in CSR-6, 89.71% in CSR-16 and 93.17% eggs in CSR-17) after decoupling. Almost 8 to 10% of more eggs were laid when oviposition period was prolonged upto 48 hrs instead of 24 hrs. The present investigation showed that a significant increase of 45 (8.34%), 50 (9.98%), 41 (8.26%) and 45 (8.30%) (P < 0.01) numbers of more eggs were found between 24 to 48 hrs (T6 to T9) in CSR-3, CSR-6, CSR-16 and CSR-17 races respectively. The findings of present investigation is very important for sericulture industry while producing layings to keep for different hibernation schedule especially for autumn/late autumn crop, female may be allowed for prolonged oviposition to get 8 -10% more eggs and farmer may fetch 8 -10 kg. more cocoon yield/l00 dfls with more income.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.265-267
• /
• 2004

The silkworm, Bombyx mori L. is prone to infection of various pathogenic organisms. Pebrine, one of the deadliest disease of silkworm caused by highly virulent parasitic microsporidian, Nosema bombycis has been understood since long. Infections of the disease range from chronic to highly virulent and can result in complete lose to the sericulture industry. Several strains and species of microsporidians have since been isolated from the infected silkworms. A new microsporidian spore was isolated from Lamerin breed of the silkworm B. mori have been studied under scanning electron microscope, found to be different in spore size (length 4.36$\pm$0.06 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, width 2.14$\pm$0.01${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$) and shape (ova cylindrical with slight depression) from standard strain N. bombycis (length 3.08$\pm$0.21 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, width 2.01$\pm$0.05 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ and ovidal respectively). In immunological test, the silkworm breed Lamerin isolated micrisporidian spore does not react to different antibody (N. bombycis, M$_{11}$ and M$_{12}$) sensitized latex particle and thus appeared to be a different strain of microsporidian parasitic to the Lamerin breed of the silkworm B. mori.i.i.

• Journal of Sericultural and Entomological Science
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.15-24
• /
• 1972

During the autumn-rearing season of 1971, at the silkworm rearing house at the college of agriculture, Seoul national university in Korea, the authors carried out a series of experiments (1) on the susceptibility of four important silkworm pathogens (Aspergillus flavus, Bacillus thuringiensis, Aspergillus oryzae, and Isaria farinosa) to Halamid (Tosylchloramide Sodium), (2) on the acute toxicity of Halamid to silkworm larvae at every instar, (3) on the inhibiting effect of Halamid to the attack of two silkworm infections, fungal muscardine and viral jundice, and the chronic toxicity of Halamid to silkworm larvae, and (4) on the yield and quality of the raw silk harvested from the Halamid treated silkworms. As the results of the experiments the authors found that Halamid could be applied usefully to silk worm rearing industry as an effective disinfectant for both silkworms themselves and their envir onmental articles, rearing houses and tools, also that Halamid exerts its disinfectant effect most efficiently as a disinfectant for silkworms when sprayed in 2% or 3% aqueous solution every second day throughout all tile instars of larval stage.