Uji mutu hibrid ulat sutera asal Cina dilakukan dengan membandingkan beberapa parameter pemeliharaan dengan hibrid lokal produksi Perum Perhutani guna menilai potensinya sebagai hibrid alternatif. Kedua hibrid diuji coba di dua lokasi berbeda di Sulawesi Selatan, yaitu Soppeng (100 m dpl) dan Enrekang (800m dpl), menggunakan rancangan acak kelompok dengan pola faktorial. Parameter yang diamati meliputi persentase penetasan, masa larva, rendemen pemeliharaan dan kualitas kokon. Hasil penelitian menunjukan hibrid Cina menghasilkan persentase daya tetas, rendemen pemeliharaan, dan daya gulung serat sutera yang lebih tinggi daripada hibrid lokal di kedua lokasi pemeliharaan. Perbedaan kedua hibrid sekitar 9% untuk daya tetas telur, 13% untuk rendemen pemeliharaan, dan antara 6-9% untuk daya gulung serat. Hibrid Cina juga memiliki masa larva yang lebih pendek sekitar dua hari dibandingkan hibrid lokal. Sementara hibrid lokal Perhutani menghasilkan kualitas kokon yang lebih baik dari pada hibrid Cina. Hibrid lokal juga menghasilkan persentase jumlah kokon normal yang lebih tinggi.

Silk is one of the textile products derived from plant fibres and is a sericulture product. Sericulture activities have a positive impact on the economy and society, as well as environmental sustainability. The many benefits of sericulture have made the Ministry of Environment and Forestry define silk as one of the potential non-timber forest products to be developed. However, there are many obstacles in developing sericulture, especially upstream (moriculture and silkworm rearing), namely low productivity. Forestry Research and Development Center is one of the stakeholders in silk development. This paper reviews the activities carried out by FRDC related to natural silk, both the development of mulberry and silkworms. The three activities carried out include research on cultivation techniques, conservation and breeding of mulberry plants and silkworms. Increased productivity is obtained by crossing or hybridization to get superior seeds. The superior products produced are Suli 01 mulberry seeds, PS 01 silkworm hybrids, and sericulture development techniques with high productivity. The Suli 01 mulberry hybrid had 30% more leaf production than conventional mulberry (M. cathayana), and the PS 01 silkworm hybrid increased cocoon production per box by 40% compared to the commonly used C301 silkworm.

Natural silk farming is a series of silk agro-industry activities from mulberry cultivation, silkworm maintenance, cocoon production and processing, silk spinning and weaving. Many supporting factors for the development of natural silk in Indonesia. However, the natural silk industry is getting worse with high import values. The main problem is the low quality of silkworm egg seeds. The Forest Research and Development Center (P3H) is a government agency authorized for natural silk commodity development. This study aims to describe the efforts of conservation and breeding of natural silkworm in Indonesia. The material used for conservation is the germ plasma silkworms collection owned by P3H. Whereas for breeding activities, silkworms used are produced from conservation activities. Conservation is carried out using eggs of the same type of strain in the germ-plasma, while breeding is done by crossing various types of moths. The result of conservation is the maintenance of 58 germ plasma silkworms. While breeding results are a type of hybrid caterpillar PS 01, which has a production advantage compared to commercial types CS 03. The dissemination of results such as hybrid PS 01, which has a comparative advantage needs to be improved to help overcome the problem of Indonesian silkworms.

Heortia vitessoides Moore is the most serious pest on agarwood trees for causing defoliation. A three years survey was conducted at Carita Forest Research Station, Banten Province, to describe the pattern and dynamic of pest infestation. Monthly monitoring were done at 3 permanent plots, each representing planting block of agarwood with different ecological and stand conditions. Each plot contained six subplots and each subplot consisted of 15 agarwood trees. The presence of pests, the level of infestation, and the attacking frequency were recorded. The results showed that pests occurred throughout the year with attack patterns fluctuated. The highest infestation occurred during dry season. The pest was mostly found as one colony of gregarious caterpillars in various instar. Most of the agarwood trees had recurrent attacks with a frequency of 2-3 times per year. The intensity of attack tend to be higher in the seedling of agarwood trees grown in open areas with lower density of shrubs and vegetation.

This study was aimed to get the qualified silkworm (Bombyx mory L.) stock by crossing between Chinese dan Japanese races. The materials used in this study were the best fourth lines of Chinese and Japanese silkworm races at Forestry Research and Development Agency, Bogor. Experimental design used in this study was Completely Randomized Design. The results showed that observed parameters were significantly affected by crossed combination. Sixteen crossedbreed combinations resulted were potensial to be selected as commercial stock compared to control BS-09.