Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B. mori dates to about 2700 BC, although archaeological records point to silk cultivation as early as the Yangshao period (5000 – 10,000 BC). About the first half of the 1st...
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Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B. mori dates to about 2700 BC, although archaeological records point to silk cultivation as early as the Yangshao period (5000 – 10,000 BC). About the first half of the 1st century AD it had reached ancient Khotan, and by AD 300 the practice had been established in India. Later it was introduced to Europe, the Mediterranean and other Asiatic countries. Sericulture has become one of the most important cottage industries in a number of countries like China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, India, Brazil, Russia, Italy and France. Today, China and India are the two main producers, together manufacturing more than 60% of the world production each year.
Silkworm larvae are fed mulberry leaves, and, after the fourth molt...
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