The growth performance of Bombyx mori fed on selected varieties of Mulberry (morus spp) at National Sericulture Centre, Kawanda

Abstract

Sericulture is the art and science of rearing silkworms mainly for producing cocoons that provide silk threads. The success of sericulture industry is mainly based on leaf quality and appropriate varieties of mulberry for silkworm rearing. This study was conducted at Kawanda National Sericulture Centre with the aim of comparing the growth performance and cocoon quality of silk worms fed on four different mulberry varieties. A total of 1,200 silkworm larvae were fed on different mulberry varieties namely: Uganda local variety, Kanva.2 variety, S.36 variety and Thailand variety. Each treatment comprised of 300 silkworm larvae and 10 silkworm larvae were randomly selected and weighed before and after each moult. The results indicate that silkworm larvae that fed on leaves of Thailand variety had significantly (P<0.05) better growth performance (1.891±0.25183) compared to the other three varieties. However, there was no significant difference (P>0.05) in shell weight and shell ratio between silkworms fed on the Thailand and Kanva variety. Based on these results, Thailand and Kanva mulberry tree varieties are suggested for development of sericulture in Uganda.