Appropriated Techniques for Rearing of Young Mulberry Silkworm, Bombyx mori to Combat Climatic Changes

Abstract

The development and growth of silkworm larvae are influenced by many factors, including climate and environmental conditions. Producing high quality and quantity of cocoon crop is the major goal for rearing. In this study, modified four young silkworm rearing techniques were applied: T₁, T₂, T₃, and T₄ with three imported Bulgarian silkworm hybrids. Fifteen silkworm characters were investigated. These included young larval mortality, grown larval mortality, fifth instar duration, whole larval duration, cocooning percentage, number of cocoons per liter, double cocooning percentage, pupation ratio, fresh cocoon weight, fresh cocoon shell weight, cocoon shell ratio, fresh pupal weight, silk productivity, cocoon crop by number and weight. The results obtained revealed that the polythene-wrapped stands method (T₁) and polythene-wrapped stands and paraffin paper at the bottom of each tray (T₂) followed by the common method (T₄) were the best methods, while the method of paraffin paper and polythene sheet methods (T₃) were the worst. Hybrids Hy₁ and Hy₂ gave the best results for the four treatments.

Keywords:

Young silkworm, polythene sheet, climate change, Bombyx mori, rearing techniques.