Sericulture info | Type, Process, Cost | agrownets

First let me explain sericulture definition Sericulture is part of agriculture , like in agriculture we are farming food/veg crops but here in sericulture we are actually doing farming of silk ,you can called it as Sericulture, or silk farming, which is the process cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. again its not the simple as there is number commercial species of silkworms where you can produced the different type of quality silk by using different type of silkworm Species.

Now if could think abut the history Who discovered silkworm As per Chinese historic legend , silk was first discovered in 2640 BC by Xilingji which is 14-year-old wife of China’s third emperor,and South Indian ruler who introduced sericulture as an agriculture industry where the Tipu sultan was the kingdom during the 1875 when the Sericulture was started they brought mulberry from West Bengal to the south and started farming it in Kollegal and their supporting areas, also they imported  another type of silkworm “Bombyx mori” from China.

Sericulture is farming where you can produced the silk material by doing different type of process on raw material to get the best quality Silk which can be done with different type of silkworm

Here is the different type of Silkworm we can use

Type of Silk	Color
Mulberry silkworm	Yellow and Green
Eri silkworm	Creamy-White and Chocolate-Red mixer
Tasar silkworm	Copper Brown
Muga silkworm	Golden

Isn’t it Interesting by looking at their colors i would like to discuss little bit more fact on their each variety of silkworm

• Mulberry silk

Mulberry Silk known as “Natural silk” fiber made by silkworms when it spinning their cocoon. now you might thinking what is cocoon, in simple language cocoon is the protection layer which was made by silk moths to protect Pupa from other insects as a part of their life cycle. Later, silk fibers is actually obtained from the cocoon and reel into silk threads which is used to make silk fabric this type of moth larvae that consumes Mulberry tree leaves and that the interesting thing where the name came for the mulberry Silkworm.Thus the product of mulberry silkworm called as Mulberry silk, it is very famous by their softer, shiny luxuries fabric quality.India is the 2nd largest Mulberry Silk producing country after China.

• Eri silkworm

Eri silkworm is naturally produced by the Eri silk moth, scientific name  is “Samia Ricini”.  which means they cannot be reeled like Mulberry,but they are spun like cotton. reason is Eri silk is So finer than Muga and Tasar,and softer than Mulberry so its can not be in maintain or convert into reel, they eating castor plants including Kesseru.In India, those plants grown in the Eastern and north eastern state like Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and some of them from southern state Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh 

• Tasar Silk

Tasar silk is Produced by the tasar silkworm, which is also know as Antheraea mylitta which mainly grow on the food plants. In India, tasar silk is mainly produced in the states of Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Orissa, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh etc.

• Muga silk

The most important property of  “Muga silk“ is its golden bright Color. this name came from Assamese word ‘Muga’, which means yellowish. this fabric is superior in quality and compared with normal white silk that available all over the world. muga silkworm is a single species where survives in harsh climatic conditions and various diseases but due to the high number of disease and natural enemies, changes in climatic conditions, the production of muga silk has recently decreased dramatically. the best food for them is som (Persea bombycina) 

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Lets discuss about production of mulberry silk, in the sericulture process what are the best methods

• Moriculture – its means trying to cultivate Mulberry plants
• Silkworm rearing – this process is basically to growth of silkworm.
• Silk reeling – the process called as extraction of silk fiber from the silkworm cocoons

Once we got silk Fiber with the help silkworm it forms the fabric cloth

Here is how its look like Cocoons starting stage

 1. Moriculture – 

This process is actually trying to cultivate number food plant which is required to feed mulberry silkworm as they completed depend on this plant so sufficient amount of plant leaf is required to fulfill there requirement also one interesting thing is 1KG of mulberry leaf can feed approximately 50 silkworms from the start egg stage to the cocoon stage

2. Silkworm rearing – this process we can try to understand in simple way

• Rearing process begins with the laying of eggs by the female silk moth ( around 250 to 550 Egg per female)
• Once we got eggs these all eggs kept on tray which was made up with paper or cardboard and then disinfect with solution
• Once bed is prepared for eggs we sprinkle the chopped mulberry leaf on to it 
• Once the larva hatch from the eggs the actual process is start for that it required to maintain humidity 
• At the initial stage larva having good appetite  and once they reached to the mature stage its slowly decreased
• Once Larva reached maturity, the larvae start to searching for safe places to begin their pupation which is called is PUPA in this stage, silkworm body shrinks and later it  becomes translucent. mature larvae now wrap himself in a cocoon by producing saliva from the two salivary glands on their head. later this saliva becomes silk when it comes in contact with air

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3. Silkworm reeling – 

• Inside the cocoons, the larvae turn into pupa then pupae inside the cocoon get killed by boiling in water 15 min the cocoon by steam or dry heat the process called is stifling
• Now, the silk fibers are removed from the dead cocoon by doing the process called reeling These fiber are Convert into a thread then reboils it again to improve their luster
• Over 900 meters of fiber can be produced from a single cocoon

What is the importance of sericulture?

As we have gone through the art of silk production which is called sericulture that consist cultivation of mulberry, silkworm rearing and post cocoon process leading to production of silk thread. the main reason was Sericulture provides important factor about employment , boost their economic development and improvement in the quality of life to the people in rural area and this employment prevents migration of village people to City area to just search for employment. lots of developing Countries like China, India, Brazil, etc have taken important role and make career in sericulture to provide employment to the village people.

Life-Cycle of a Silkworm – Everything Silkworms?

 

People may ask lots of frequently ask questions like below

what is sericulture

Which country is the master in producing silk in the world?

• In India Around 7 million people working in silk industry and China is the world’s major producer and supplier of silk to the world markets.

Water requirements for silk Farming in sericultural

Water requirement for silk is if you are talking about only silkworm..so it’s not required since you are feeding them juicy fresh leaves but if we think about the to grow feeding leave plant like mulberry plant other plant it depends on the area of  famring .. roughly we can say to grow mulberry plant in 2-2 meter the. It will be total 40 plant in 1000 square feet ( 1 guntha) that required 600 ltr water per month and for 1 Acer plantation it requires 25k-30k liter water per month ..now if u think about silk production water consumption.. obviously it requires some water to boost and process their productivity 

Which silk is produced only in India?

• India is the only country in uniqueness to producing skill known commercial silks, Such as mulberry, tropical tasar, oak tasar, eri and muga silk,

Where is silk produced India?

• Silk within the Indian subcontinent a most luxury good. In India, about 96% of the raw materials of mulberry silk is produced within the 5 Indian states of Andhra Pradesh , Tamil Nadu ,Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal.

Which is best silk in India?

• Banarasi silk is best silk in india 

Indian state largest producer of silk ?

• Karnataka is the state who contribute 70% of mulberry silk production in India  which is almost 90 Lac Kg out of 1.4 Cr kg

Why is silk so expensive?

• Because sericulture is laborious and land-intensive and it made up of protein fibres and if we could think about time spam of work then its took 100 hrs labors work which required 850 silkwork cocoons to produced silk fabric to make one shirt

How much silk can a silkworm produce?

 – It is interesting to fact that around 40,000 egg of silkworm eggs contains (1 Gram = 1,500 eggs). means total 26.6 gram of eggs worms will eat approx 1500 KG of mulberry leafs, which can produced 8 Kg cocoons silk thread. if we are talking about to make one single dress it required approximately 1600 to 2000 cocoons.

i would amaze that only 26.6 Gram of egg can deliver 8 KG cocoons which can later it convert beautiful dress

Is sericulture or sericultural profitable in India?

– Yes , as it will increase the number of requirement and also over the world only 60 % of the silk production requirement is fulfill by India and china

Sample type of silk with their colors

How can I start sericulture in India?

Total Expected Silkworm Farming Cost for Beginners

No.	Type of work for  sericultural	Cost in INR
1	Silkworm Shed Cost	145000
2	nets for 200 mt Cost	5000
3	Bedding material Cost	15000
4	Labour cost	10000
5	Cost of every harvesting	15000
6	Initial Cost of silkworm larvae	35000
7	feeding Cost	30000
	Total Cost of Silk worm Farming	255,000

What are the three grades of silk? What climate do silkworms live in?

• Normal temperature is between 20°C and 28°C for normal growth of silkworms and the Best temperature is  between 23°C to 28°C. for maximum productivity

Which country is the master in producing silk in the world?