Mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing move hand in hand because each is of importance to the other. Silkworm production starts with the cultivation of mulberry to rearing of silkworms.
Silkworms start their life cycle from egg to moth;
There are four stages in the life cycle of a silkworm, from the eggs to adult moth. Therefore, this calls for a well disinfected and regularly well cleaned house. The process of silk cloth production involves six steps, from silkworm cocoon to silk material.
At the first stage in the life cycle of a silkworm, the female moth lays its eggs, around ten days later, silkworm larvae hatch from the eggs and these larvae feed on mulberry leaves. With the increase in their size they begin to round themselves by silk thread. Within 3-8days they are covered with cocoon. They take 16days to come out of the cocoon to be moth and finally a silkworm.
For silk cloth production, a cocoon is first selected and then boiled in water. After boiling, the silk thread that makes up a cocoon is reeled, and several strands of threads are twisted together. The threads can either be dyed and woven into silk fabric as of the designer’s choice.
