Silk Weaving and Sericulture - Chintamani, Karnataka
• Mulberry Cultivation – Silkworm Food
Mulberry cultivation plays an important part in sericulture, as it forms the basic diet for the silk caterpillars. Almost 60% of the silk production cost goes to Mulberry planting. The metamorphic stages of silk moth eggs to ultimately cocoon demand a ton of mulberry leaves. The silkworm’s diet is satisfied through various stages like cultivation, harvesting, cutting, and finally chopping the leaves. These leaves are then fed to the caterpillars. Though there are advanced mechanization and appliances, the occupation is still highly labor-intensive.
• Silkworm from Egg to Larva
A seed is a name given for the step where the silkworms lay eggs. Once these eggs turn pupae, they are separated according to their gender. Then the mature female moths are combined with male counterparts for mating purpose, which lasts for about 3 hrs. Later, they are separated, and the females are left free to lay eggs on a sheet of paper. She possesses the ability to lay around 300-400 eggs within 48 hours. Here the male moths are kept in a refrigerator for cooling to prepare for the next two rounds of mating. In Chintamani, farmers are buying pupae directly from Hassan, Kunigal, Kuduru, Hebbaru, and Chitradurga. The harvested eggs are then dipped in a mixture of formalin solution (methanol) and water for 10mins to prevent any kind of infection. These wet sheets are then hung in an incubation room until it dries. After seven days, the eggs turn grey, these are then shifted to a black box to ensure no passage of light. On the 9th day, the eggs hatch, and a small larva come out of it. These larvae are fed with tender and chopped mulberry leaves. Once it enters the second stage of growth, initiatives are taken to harvest the cocoon formed around the insect.
