Rearing Performance of Bivoltine Hybrids of the Silkworm, Bombyx mori L in Poonch District of Jammu and Kashmir State During Spring Rearing Season

In India, the bulk of silk produced is from multivoltine which are of inferior quality. It is a fact that more than 96% of the silk produced comes from multivoltine x multivoltine or multivoltine x bivoltine hybrids. Quality silk can be produced only from bivoltine. Therefore, it is highly pertinent to have more bivoltine silkworm breeds known for quality silk. However, the climatic conditions of Poonch District of Jammu and Kashmir State are not conducive to rear bivoltine hybrids throughout the year. Hence, there is an urgent need to develop bivoltine hybrids which can yield stable crops under adverse climatic conditions. Keeping this in view, an attempt has been made to evaluate the bivoltine hybrids.