Economic Analysis of Silkworm Rearing and Cocoon Production in Bilaspur District of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Sericulture is an agro-based multitudinous activity which involves cultivation of mulberry, production of laying, rearing of silkworms for cocoons, marketing and reeling of cocoons for value added products such as processing and weaving of the yarn. It is a short gestation period labour intensive enterprise which can go a long way in promoting inclusive growth and alleviating poverty in rural areas. The present study was therefore carried out in order to analyse investment and returns pattern of cocoon production in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh. Two-stage random sampling and proportional allocation method was used to prepare a list of sample farmers. Out of 60 silkworm rearers, 19 were large and 41 were small. The dry cocoon production per farm on small and large category was estimated at 8.25 kg (6.20 kg in spring and 2.05 kg in autumn) and 19.51 kg (16.67 kg in spring and 2.84 kg in autumn). The dry cocoon production per ounce of seed was found to be 20.28 kg and 26.14 kg on small and large category households for both the seasons together. The fixed cost of production / ounce for spring crop varied from 9.92 per cent on small farms to 14.75 per cent on large farms. The variable cost varied from 90.08 per cent on small farms to 85.25 per cent on large farms implying the economical use of fixed and variable resources by large growers. The gross returns per ounce seed basis ranged between ` 1,626 and ` 5,535 on small and large farms for the spring crop. The autumn crop was found to give negative returns; therefore farmers should be provided with technology which could reduce the moisture in the rearing room, develop humidity resistant races of silkworms as well as develop varieties of mulberry plantation which may yield good leaves just after rainy season. Highlights m Due to high humidity in the areas and less time available with the rearers to seriously perform sericulture activities output of cocoons in autumn is less which results in negative return in autumn season. m Silk worm seed was the most important variable in affecting the cocoon production.

Sustainable Rearing of Eri Silkworm (Samia ricini) in Bishnupur District of Manipur

“…In the semi-medium farmer category, among the total of 32 households 8 respondents (25.00 per cent) were male and 24 respondents (75.00 per cent) were female. The involvement of women in rearing silkworm plays a pivotal role compared to that of male, which is relevant to the study conducted by Sharma et al (2019) in their paper. Under marginal farmer, 5 respondents (22.73 per cent) fall into the lower age group of 30-38 years of age, 10 respondents (45.45 per cent) under the medium age group (39-59 years) and 7 respondents (31.82 per cent) fall under the higher age group (60 years and above).…”

“…The cost of cultivation for rearing of eri silkworm was estimated using different methods used in the farm management analysis in terms of variable and fixed cost (Sharma et al, 2019).…”

The karyotype studies of some aphid species (Aphidoidea: Hemiptera) from Niğde province in Türkiye

“…The aphids have been recorded on almost 25% (nearly 94.000 plant species) of the known species of host plants, but nearly 100 aphid species were evaluated as economically significant. Currently, the chromosome numbers of 1.039 aphid species belonging to 14 families have been reported, comprising nearly 22% of all the described aphid species (Potan & Gautam, 2019;Sharma & Gautam, 2019;Kuznetsova et al, 2021).…”

“…In a study conducted in different regions of India, 27 aphid species belonging to 14 genera were evaluated karyomorphologically. It was determined that the chromosome number varied between 2n=6-18 in the aphid species evaluated (Sharma & Gautam, 2019). Kumari et al (2022) aimed to give information about the karyotypes of four aphid species that damage to medically significant and common in host plants in India.…”

Perspectives of molecular marker-assisted breeding in mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) to develop resistance for mungbean yellow mosaic virus (MYMV) disease

“…The roots can be used as narcotic drugs (Zheng, 2002). Legume crops possess the antitoxin effect that's why they have been utilized in medical and cosmetics since the earliest times (Sharma and Mishra, 2009). They also show antihypertensive and anti-diabetic properties (Lin et al, 1974;.…”