Year: 2018 | Month: October | Volume 11 | Issue 5

Management of Nutritional and Climatic factors for Silkworm Rearing in West Bengal: A Review

DOI:10.30954/0974-1712.10.2018.9

Abstract:

The development and reproduction of insects are greatly influenced by a variety of nutritional and climatic factors. These factors may exert their effects on insects either directly or indirectly. Under natural conditions organisms are subjected to a combination of nutritional and climatic factors, and it is this combination that ultimately determines the distribution and abundance of a species. Frequently the effect of one facto modifies the normal response of an organism to another factor. For example climatic factor light, by inducing diapauses may make an insect unresponsive or unaffected by temperature fluctuations. Major silk producing insect Bombyx mori L is also not an exception. Bombyx mori L is a domesticated and delicate insect. Improper maintenance of nutritional and climatic factors affect the genotypic expression in the form of phenotypic output of silkworm crop such as cocoon weight, shell weight, and cocoon shell ratio. Besides it is not easy to manage silkworm rearing in West Bengal due to prevalence of high temperature and high humidity most of the time during the silkworm rearing. These climatic factors also influence the various nutritional factors. As per example humidity in the rearing room may affect the types of leaf fed to silkworm larvae in different instars. The present review paper discuss in details about the role of various nutritional and climatic factors on growth and development of silkworm and it also indicates future strategies to be taken for the management various climatic and nutritional factors for successful cocoon crop in West Bengal.

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