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Silkworm rearing shed

A silkworm rearing shed is a purpose-built structure in which late-age silkworms are fed, moulted and ultimately mounted for cocoon spinning. Its design controls the temperature, humidity, light and biosecurity conditions on which silk yield depends. CSRTI Mysore (Central Silk Board) publishes the standard design used in commercial Indian sericulture.

Function

The shed houses rearing trays or shelf racks where worms are fed mulberry leaf or whole mulberry shoots (Whole Shoot Feeding) during the third, fourth and fifth instars, and where they are then transferred to mountages for spinning. Adequate cross-ventilation, controlled humidity and disinfection between batches are central to limiting losses from grasserie, flacherie, muscardine and uzi fly.

Design and specifications

  • Recommended size: 50 ft x 20 ft with about 10 ft eaves height, sized to hold 200-250 disease-free layings per batch
  • Minimum width for late-age rearing: 5.5 m (approximately 18 ft) to allow shelf racks on both walls with a central walkway
  • Verandah: 3 ft verandah on all sides to limit direct sunlight and rain ingress and to act as a buffer space
  • Ventilation: windows and ventilators on opposite walls for cross-ventilation, covered with nylon mesh to exclude uzi fly (Exorista bombycis) and other pests
  • Shelving: multi-tier shelf-rack systems on both long walls to maximise rearing area per square metre

Operation

The rearing room is washed, dried and disinfected with formalin-bleach solutions before each batch. Bed-cleaning between feeds and routine bed disinfection are part of the daily cycle. Chawki worms supplied by a Chawki Rearing Centre are brushed onto the trays for late-age rearing; the room is then operated at the bivoltine-rearing temperature and humidity regime (Bivoltine Silkworm).

Subsidy and adoption

Capital subsidy for rearing-house construction is provided under central and state sericulture development schemes, including support for nylon mesh, shelf racks and disinfection equipment. The shed sits at the centre of the sericulture homestead, fed by leaf from the household's Mulberry Cultivation Sericulture garden.

See also: Bivoltine Silkworm, Mulberry Cultivation Sericulture, Chawki Rearing Centre, Whole Shoot Feeding, Disease Free Layings Dfl, Chandrika Mountage.

References

  1. Silkworm Rearing Houses. CSRTI Mysore.
  2. Design and Construction of Rearing Houses. CSRTI Mysore.
  3. Silkworm Rearing House. TNAU agritech portal.