In sericulturally advanced countries, the seed production technologies have been perfected to its highest level. Though, in India silkworm seed production is practiced since decades, it is yet to be standardized to its perfection. To meet the requirement of seed to Indian sericulture farmers, the country requires more than 30 crore disease free commercial silkworm seed. However, all the agencies in the country together produce only 24 crore disease free layings (Dfls) and thus there is production shortage of some six crore disease free layings. In this backdrop, this book is prepared with the objective to explain the various strategies to be adopted in the production of better quality and higher quantity of silkworm eggs. The book "Silkworm Egg Science: Principles & Protocols" tries to motivate and assist in its efforts to unveil secrete of the various existing problems related to silkworm egg to increase production, productivity and quality of cocoons. Spread over ten chapters, the book has wide coverage on disinfection and hygiene, egg production technologies, embryonic development, egg diapause and biochemical modulations, preservation of eggs, hibernation schedules, artificial hatching of eggs for rearing of silkworm in appropriate season, methods of incubation, adaptation to changing environment besides prevention and control of pebrine disease of eggs and pests to achieve sustained and quality silkworm eggs and stable cocoon crop. The technical components are meticulously incorporated in this book to make it fairly comprehensive reference material. The book is designed to address wide range of readers, experts, university teachers, students, researchers, technologists, policy makers and fulfill the hopes and aspirations of all those engaged in sericulture in general and egg production in particular. The information furnished in this book will be of immense importance not only to Indian sericulture but also to South Asian and African countries and will find an application at all levels of sericulture.

This text explores the whole process of silkworm egg production.

The study of insects at low temperature is a comparatively new field. Only recently has insect cryobiology begun to mature, as research moves from a descriptive approach to a search for underlying mechanisms at diverse levels of organization ranging from the gene and cell to ecological and evolutionary relationships. Knowledge of insect responses to low temperature is crucial for understanding the biology of insects living in seasonally varying habitats as well as in polar regions. It is not possible to precisely define low temperature. In the tropics exposure to 10-15°C may induce chill coma or death, whereas some insects in temperate and polar regions remain active and indeed even able to fly at O°C or below. In contrast, for persons interested in cryopreservation, low temperature may mean storage in liquid nitrogen at - 196°C. In the last decade, interest in adaptations of invertebrates to low temperature has risen steadily. In part, this book had its origins in a symposium on this subject that was held at the annual meeting of the Entomological Society of America in Louisville, Kentucky, USA in December, 1988. However, the emergence and growth of this area has also been strongly influenced by an informal group of investigators who met in a series of symposia held in Oslo, Norway in 1982, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in 1985 and in Cambridge, England in 1988. Another is scheduled for Binghamton, New York, USA (1990).

This book describes the stages of mulberry bush growing, silkworm egg production, silkworm rearing, silk cocoon reeling and silk fabric production. Ideal for fieldworkers, development agencies and those starting small-scale manufacture or attempting to improve or extend manufacture (Published in the Small-scale Textiles series).

Contents: Introduction, Cultivation of Mulberry for Seed Crop, Silkworm and its Races, Disinfection and Hygiene, Seed Production, Oviposition and Egg Preservation, Diapause and Hatching, Seed Crop Rearing, Hybrid Vigour and Heritability, Silkworm Diseases and Pests.

The Book Elaborates On The Whole Process And The Steps Of Cultivating Silkworms For Producing Good Quality Silk. It Describes The Morphology, Anatomy And The Embryology Of The Bombyx Mori Silkworm, The Most Widely Used Variety Of Species, And Explains All The Procedures From The Production Of Silkworm Egg To The Reeling Of Silk From The Cocoon. It Details The Necessary Climatic Conditions, Testing Of Eggs And Their Incubations The Environment In Which These Silkworms Are To Be Brought Up In, Mulberry Leaf Diets, Hygiene And Other Necessary Provisions. Being A Comprehensive Compendium On Silkworms Rearing, This Book Should Prove To Be Highly Useful For Farmers And Agriculturists Involved In Sericulture.