Sericulture: Information from farming to business

Sericulture is a better business option for the people of rural area. Sericulture is a very low cost agro based industry. Therefore, small farmers can also easily increase their income by joining this business. If you also want to start silkworm farming business then it is necessary to be aware of some important information related to it. Let us discuss in detail on 'Silk Pest Farming - Information from Farming to Business'.

silk strands

India is the only country to produce 5 varieties of silk.
Mulberry, tussar, oak tussar, eri and coral silk are cultivated in our country.

Employment opportunities in silkworm rearing

There are many activities involved in the sericulture industry.
Under this industry, employment opportunities can be increased by cultivating trees for feeding of insects, rearing of insects, making silk from cocoons, cleaning silk, cutting yarn, manufacturing cloth from yarn.

Start of silkworm farming

tree farming

First of all, trees have to be cultivated for the food of the insect.
Mulberry plants have to be cultivated for mulberry silk.
On the other hand, Palash, Gular, etc. trees are cultivated for the production of non-mulberry silk.

silkworm rearing

Larvae hatch after 10 days from the eggs.
You can buy silkworm larvae from your nearest agriculture centers.
If you buy a 10 day silkworm then you have to rear the silkworm for 20 days.
After this the insects stop eating and start producing silk.
Leaves are given for the larvae to eat.
Within about 4 to 10 days, the larvae secrete proteins from their mouths.
This protein hardens and becomes thread-like when exposed to air.
The larval insects form a circle around their body with silky threads. This sphere is called a cocoon.
After the formation of the cocoon, the insects lock themselves inside it.

cocoon pruning

The cocoons are sorted before the silk is removed from the cocoons.
At the time of pruning, spoiled and double cocoons, soiled cocoons, molten cocoons, infected cocoons and deformed cocoons are separated.

How to get silk from cocoons

The cocoons are put in hot water to obtain silk.
After putting in hot water the insects die and from the remaining cocoons we can make silk.
The cocoons should be dried in hot air to obtain better quality silk. By doing this the pupa dies and the cocoon shell layers are easy to detach.
A silk thread of 500 to 1,300 meters long is obtained from a cocoon shell.

Business

Yarn is made from silk threads.
The price of silk yarn is high in the market.
If you want, you can start a clothing business by manufacturing clothes from cotton.