Silkworm Farming

Why 6 months? Because that is one real production cycle for silkworm farming. You study each month's material while your own operation (or your planning) goes through exactly that stage. By graduation you have either harvested/sold your first production or hold a complete, costed plan ready for funding.

Structure: 6 monthly modules → lessons → practical assignments → a 10-question quiz each month → final business project.

How to study (hybrid): Online — work through each month on your phone, log sessions in the Study Diary, ask the rAs AI assistant anything. Offline — save this page and do the practicals in the real world.

• What are silkworms and why farm them? (income per kg of cocoons)
• Bombyx mori: the commercial silkworm species
• Mulberry trees: the only food silkworms eat
• Lifecycle: egg → larva (4 instars) → cocoon → moth
• Chinese vs Japanese breeds; climate matching
• Calculate: 1 kg of pupae → 100g of raw silk

• Land preparation and mulberry nursery setup
• Planting mulberry cuttings (spacing, shade, water)
• Leaf quality: harvest timing and storage
• Disease-free mulberry: fungal problems and prevention
• Intercropping mulberry with vegetables (low-cost)
• Calculate: feeding 1000 silkworms needs 50kg of fresh leaves/day

• Source disease-free silkworm eggs (DFLs)
• Storage: cool, dry conditions (4–12°C)
• Incubation: temperature and humidity control
• Signs of healthy hatch (99%+ viability expected)
• Quarantine protocols (prevent pebrine, grasserie)
• Calculate: 10,000 eggs × 98% hatch = 9,800 worms to feed

• Instar 1: tiny worms, frequent feeding (every 4 hours)
• Instar 2–3: rapid growth, leaf consumption increases
• Rearing beds: bamboo frames, clean leaves, 25–27°C
• Humidity: 70–80%; ventilation critical (prevent diseases)
• Diseases: pebrine (spots), grasserie (bloat), muscardine (fungus)
• Calculate: Instar 3 consumes 60% of all leaves in the cycle

• Instar 4: explosive growth (doubles weight every 2–3 days)
• Late Instar 4: worms stop eating, become translucent
• Mounting: worms climb onto bamboo frames to spin cocoons
• Cocoon spinning takes 3–4 days (72–96 hours)
• Harvest timing: before pupation (avoid punctured cocoons)
• Calculate: 10,000 worms → 2,000 cocoons (20% loss normal)

• Cocoon grades: A (yellow), B (pale), C (stained)
• Stifling: heat-kill pupae inside cocoons (prevent moth emergence)
• Cocoon baling and storage (dry, rodent-proof)
• Local markets: weaving workshops, raw silk buyers
• Export: certification, quality standards
• Calculate: 2,000 cocoons × 2.5kg/100 cocoons = 50kg cocoons × price

• Build a mulberry nursery plot (50 cuttings, 30 days)
• Maintain silkworm rearing records (daily weight, leaf use, mortality)
• Design a cost sheet: seeds, labour, leaf cost, cocoon revenue
• Visit a local silk workshop (if available) and document techniques

• 1-hectare silkworm farm: investment, timeline, revenue
• Employ 1–2 people; sell cocoons to local weavers or traders
• Year 1 profit estimate; break-even analysis

• Your national Department of Agriculture — technical guidance, regulations
• rAs AI Assistant — ask about anything in the course; available 24/7
• Local farmer groups (if available) — peer learning, market connections