Challenges and Prospects of Bivoltine Silkworm Rearing with Special Reference to Jammu Division of Jammu and Kashmir, India

In Jammu division, sericulture was introduced over a century ago. Being a traditional cultivator of bivoltine silk of international standard but unfortunately the multi-fold potential of the region is characterized with insignificant cocoon production that cannot sustain the international market. The gap between the potential and actual yield obtained by the silkworm rearers are not fully exploited, as such, there is need to have new direction in planning of transfer of technology by designing more effective linkages between technology providers, extension workers and silkworm rearers. Hence, this survey was conducted with the ultimate objective of highlighting the pertinent challenges faced by the sericulturists in Jammu region and also sought to establish the present and future prospects available for sericulture development and prosperity. The information on many challenges faced by the silkworm rearers to meet the market demand was gathered from randomly sampled 225 respondents following personal interview schedule. Results revealed major factors responsible for expected and obtained yield gap as insufficient mulberry trees (69.78%), lack of season hybrids (58.67%), fluctuations in cocoon rates (46.67%), competition from other crops (44.0%) and insufficient training programs (25.33%) are the main constraints being faced by the silkworm rearers.