The silk worm is a species that emerges from the breeding cycle of the genus Bombyx moth. This species is known to have high economic value because it can produce fine silk threads which have been traded since ancient times. The ThoughtCo page reports that silk has been used since 3500 BC during the Lung Shan (Longshan) period in North China.
So, if you really want to know how to cultivate silkworms, there are a number of things that you must pay attention to here. For more details, you can see this article in full.
Silkworm farming as a profitable business
Some ways or steps that you can practice to cultivate silkworms:
Provide land and places that will be used for silkworm cultivation. You can provide medium-sized wooden boxes. Silkworm boxes can be made or purchased from breeders who do sell farming equipment.
Keep in mind that silkworms are voracious animals and they love mulberry leaves. For one medium sized box of silkworms, it is necessary to provide 400 kg of good quality mulberry leaves.
Seed purchases can be made at silkworm breeders. In some areas it may be quite difficult to find silkworm breeders. In Indonesia, the largest silk thread producing regions are South Sulawesi (Soppeng and Wajo), West Java (Garut, Majalaya and Sukabumi), and Central Java (Pati).
Seed eggs can be spread in the boxes that have been prepared. Make sure it is at room temperature, which is 25-27 degrees Celsius. When ready to hatch, cover the eggs with dark paper or cloth.
Small caterpillars can be fed young mulberry leaves that have been chopped or cut into small pieces. Pay attention to airflow so that the quality of the air cleanliness around the caterpillar box is also good.
There is a time when young caterpillars will undergo a change of skin. At this time, usually the caterpillar will sleep and feeding can be temporarily stopped.
Well, after being old enough, the mulberry leaf feed can be given in its entirety, usually together with the stems.
Adult caterpillars can be given feed four times a day. This is done considering the nature of silkworms which tend to have a high appetite.
Don’t forget to clean the caterpillar’s cage or box. Several diseases can attack silkworms, including NPV, CPV, and aspergillus spores. There are also other types of protozoan diseases that can attack eggs and small caterpillars. Consult with breeders and animal husbandry services regarding the proper dose of drug administration.
Well, the cocoons are produced from silkworms which will continue the life cycle to the next phase. These silk cocoons can be processed into high-value silk threads.
Raising silkworms requires commitment and patience because eggs and small caterpillars will go through quite vulnerable times in their lives. However, if successful, silkworm farmers will get satisfactory results and of course it can be used as a profitable business area. So, are you interested in cultivating silkworms?