A case study on commercial silkworm rearing of Daba (Bi-Voltine) tasar ecorace (Antheraea mylitta Drury) in Kurjuli Forest area of Bandgaon Block, West Singhbhum district, Jharkhand, India

Abstract

A case study was conducted on commercial silkworm rearing of Daba (Bi-Voltine) tasar ecorace (Antheraea mylitta Drury) to study the effect of age, education, experience and socio-economic conditions of the farmers on cocoon yield. Based on the rearing performance of 21361 dfls of Daba (Bi-Voltine) tasar ecorace distributed among 136 farmers, it was found that, 12 farmers produced more than 80 cocoons dfls-1, which was the great achievement Indian tasar farming. Besides, 37 farmers have produced between 60-80 cocoons dfls-1, 50 farmers produced 40-60 cocoons dfls-1, 27 farmers produced 20-40 cocoons dfls-1 and only 10 farmers have produced lass than 20 cocoons dfls-1 respectively. The rearing performance of 72.79 per cent farmers was better than the benchmark of 40-60 cocoons yield dfl-1 adopted by the Indian tasar sericulturist. Based on the rearing performance of the farmers of different age group, it was found that, the maximum cocoons were produced by the farmers’ age group of 30-40 and 40-50 years whereas the lowest cocoon production were recorded at the farmers below 30 years of age group. The highest cocoons yield dfl-1 was recorded at the farmers below 30 years of age followed by lowest cocoons yield dfl-1 at farmers above 60 years of age. While considering the education level, it was found that, the maximum cocoons were produced by the farmers having non-matric or 10+2 and above level of educational qualification followed by the illiterate farmers. The highest cocoon yield 70.77 cocoons dfl-1 was produced by the educated farmers, who had matric or 10+2 level of educational qualification. The farmers experience has also shown the positive impact on cocoon yield.