Yuvraj Singh
Last Activity: 3 Years ago
Silk is anatural fiber produced by insects as a material for their nests and cocoons. The most common type of silk is made by silkworms. Silk is made primarily of a protein called fibroin and is known for its shine and softness as a material.
There are four types of natural silk produced in India for commercial purposes. These are known asMulberry silk, Tasar silk, Muga silk, and Eri silk. Among these four kinds, the mulberry silk contributes to more than 80% of the silk produced in the country.
The life cycle of mulberry silkworm completes in 45-55 days, consists of stages egg, larva, pupa and moth. Egg stage is lasting for 9-10 days, larval stage which is 24-28 days, pupal stage 8-10 days and moth stages 3-4 days.
Sericulture, also calledsilk farming, is the process of making silk fibers. It starts by raising silkworms and then processing the fibers they produce. Silk fibers are combined into silk thread.
Extracting raw silk starts by cultivating thesilkworms onmulberry leaves. Once the worms start pupating in their cocoons, these are dissolved in boiling water in order for individual long fibres to be extracted and fed into the spinning reel.