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PROJECT REPORT

ON

RURAL AGRICULTURE WORK EXPERIENCE (RAWE)

SUBMITTED TO

SRI DEV SUMAN UTTARAKHAND UNIVERSITY, TEHRI GARHWAL

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT

FOR THE AWARD DEGREE

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE

IN

AGRICULTURE

(2015-2019 BATCH)

SUBMITTED BY

ASHOK KUMAR

B.Sc. AGRICULTURE

VIII SEMESTER

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

MISS.NIKKI NAUTIYAL(ASSISTANT PROFESSOR)

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
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BEEHIVE COLLEHE OF MANAGEMENT &TECHNOLOGY, SELAQUI,DEHRADUN

DECLARATION

I undersigned here by declared that this project work entitled RAWE – RURAL AGRICULTURE WORK
EXPERIENCE is written & my own work and is submitted by me to SRI DEV SUMAN
UTTARAKHAND UNIVERSITY TEHRI GARWAL , toward the partial fulfillment of award BSC.
AGRICULTURE in year 2015-2019, this is original report work and report written is based on the
knowledge and material gained from the RAWE.

The results embodied in this thesis have not been submitted to any other University or Institute for the any
degree.

Place : ASHOK KUMAR

Date : BSc Agriculture
VIIIth semester
2015-19 batch
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First I would like to thank (Almighty God) for keeping me in good health and giving strength in making my
project a complete success.

It is my pleasure to thank and give my deepest gratitude to Mr. Naveen Kathai, Dean of Beehive of
Management & Technology for his guidance, constant & encouragement throughout the project.

It is my Pleasure to thank and give my deepest Gratitude to Miss. Nikki Nautiyal (Asst. Prof of
Agriculture, BCMT) who has encouraged and give me endless support and help throughout my Project.

My special thanks to my family who have been a great inspiration in my whole life and give me endless
Support

I solely claim all the responsibility for any error, short comings and limitation in this project report.

ASHOK KUMAR
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MUSHROOM CERTIFICATE
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SERICULTURE
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SOCIO ECONOMIC SURVEY

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APICULTURE CERTIFICATE
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INTRODUCTION

The most important area in which the development need to accelerate is agriculture, which is backbone of
countries economy.in order to spring about changes in the knowledge, skill and attitude of the people
engaged in farming sustained effort necessary and thus could be achieved only through purposeful
education, rural agriculture work experience(R.A.W.E.) is for imparting quality, practical productive
oriented education for the agriculture degree program.

Effective work experience training strategies incorporating rural agriculture experiment learning approaches
providing opportunities for a student of the last year to engage infield work activity to review and analyses
critically this experience activity and to draw some useful conclusion, decision from analysis and apply the
result in actual, practical and field situation.

Objective of RAWE programme -

1. To develop the understanding of community life and the different situation.
2. To familiarize with the socio economic condition of farmer and their problems with reference to
agriculture development.
3. To provide an opportunity to the students for practical training in crop production through work
experience.
4. To develop skills among students using extension teaching methods for transfer of technology.
5. The RAWE is a learner centered approach of exposing students by using principles of learning by doing
and “seeing and believing to think and act on their own.”
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RAWE programme is an important competence and confidence building activity and tool introduced to
provide integrated disciplines and practical training to farm graduates in Agriculture sciences. The
combination of education on farm research and extension programme has better exposure of fresh farm
graduates to the real ground problems at the farmers level and act as a tool of the feedback to workers for
the planning of their research programmes.

UNIT I MUSHROOM CULTIVATION

CONTENTS:

 INTRODUCTION

 IMPORTANCE OF MUSHROOM

 CULTIVATION OF OYSTER MUSHROOM

 FLOW CHART OF OYSTER MUSHROOM CULTIVATION

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 DISEASE & PEST MANAGEMENT

 POST HARVET TECHNOLOGY OF OYSTER MUSHROOM

 MARKETING ANALYSIS & STRATEGY

 CONCLUTION

INTRODUCTION

Mushroom belongs to the plant kingdom known as “FUNGI”. They cannot produce their own food and it
depends on organic matter for their nutrition. They grow saprophytic ally on various substrates or
parasitically and symbiotically on or with other organism. Commonly, mushrooms are in the form of an
umbrella like structure or a cap with stalk. However, there is a lot of variation in fruiting structure with
different shapes, sizes and with or without stock. Some varieties even produce fruiting bodies underground.
There are large number of species growing wild in nature, while many edible; some are mild to deadly
poisonous. In ancient times mushroom has been treated as a special kind of food and were considered as a
functional food because of its medicinal and nutritional property.

Mushroom is a short duration crop that takes only 20-30days to get the first harvest and entire cropping
cycle is completed within 45-60days. The bio efficiency of mushroom is very high as for every KG of
paddy straw used 500-1000gm of fresh mushroom is harvested. Mushroom growing is eco-friendly as it
involves recycling of plant waste to produce protein rich food and its spent mushroom substrate can be use
to produce organic manure.

Mushrooms are popular for their delicacy and flavoured food value. It is well established fact they are
excellent sources of vitamins and minerals. Fresh mushrooms constitute 80-90% moisture 3% protein 0.3-
0.4% fat and 1% minerals. With the low fat and carbohydrate content they constitute an ideal dish for
diabetic patients, heart diseases, hypertension and obesity.
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FIG: Morphology of mushroom

IMPORTANCE OF MUSHROOM

Mushrooms help plants grow. Together with bacteria they help dead materials get back into soil so that it
can be used again. Some are useful in controlling pests of crops. It also has a medicinal and nutritional
value such as.

Cholesterol Levels: Mushrooms themselves provide with lean proteins as they have zero cholesterol, fats
and very low carbohydrates. The fibre and certain enzymes in them also help lower cholesterol level.
Moreover, the high lean protein content in mushrooms helps in burning cholesterol when they are digested.

Breast cancer and prostate cancer: Mushrooms are very effective in preventing cancer of breasts and
prostrate due to presence of Beta-Glucans and conjugated Linoleic Acid having anti carcinogenic effects.
Out of these two, linoleic acid is particularly helpful in suppressing effects of estrogen. This estrogen is the
prime reason for breast cancer in women after menopause. The Beta-Glucans, on the other hand, inhibit
growth of cancerous cells in cases of prostate cancer. Selenium in mushrooms is very effective in inhibiting
cancerous cells.

Diabetes: Mushrooms can be an ideal low energy diet for diabetes. They have no fats, no cholesterol, very
low carbohydrates, high proteins, vitamins and minerals, a lot of water and fibre. Moreover, they contain
natural insulin and enzymes which help in breaking down of sugar or starch of the food. Again, they are
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known to contain certain compounds which help proper functioning of liver, pancreas and the other
endocrine glands, thereby promoting formation of insulin and its proper flow.

Immunity: Mushrooms contain natural antibiotics (similar to penicillin, which itself is extracted from
mushrooms) which inhibit microbial and other fungal infections. They also help heal other ulcers and
ulcerous wounds and protect them from infections. A good combination of vitamins A, B-Complex and C,
found in mushrooms also strengthens immune system.

Nutrients: Mushrooms are the only vegetable and the second known source (after cod liver oil) to contain
vitamin-D in edible from. They are very rich in calcium(good for bones), iron(benefits in anaemia),
potassium (very good for lowering blood pressure), copper (anti bacterial) and selenium (very good for
health of bones, teeth, nails, and as an anti oxidant). The best source of selenium is animal proteins. So,
mushrooms can be the best choice for vegetarians to obtain selenium.

MEDICINAL VALUE: Mushrooms have got medicinal properties and have traditionally been used in
CHINA and JAPAN . Cosmetic products and tonic beverages have been produced in CHINA from
Ganoderma mushrooms. Recently maitake (Grifolia frondosa) and shaitake ( Lentinus edodes) mushrooms
have been reported to inhibitory to AIDS virus in USA and JAPAN

IMPORTANT MUSHROOMS GROWN IN INDIA

Presently mushrooms are being cultivated in about an annual production of 12million MT.Production of
mushrooms are concerned in 3 geographical regions about 55% in Europe , 27% in North America.

S.N COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME

1. Button/European/Temperate mushroom Agaricus bisporus
2. Edulis/ hot weather mushroom Agaricus bitorquis
3. Oyster / dhingari mushroom Pleurotus spp.
4. Paddy straw/ Chinese/tropical mushroom Volvariella volvaceae
5. B lack ear mushroom Auricularia polytrica
6. White milky mushroom Calocybe indica
7. Shaitake/ black forest mushroom Lentinus edodes

CULTIVATION OF OYSTER MUSHROOM

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Oyster mushroom also known as DHINGRI or JAPANESE mushroom has the capability of braking down
cellulose and lignin bearing materials. Its cultivation is easy and its cost of production is also low. Like all
fleshy fruits and vegetables, mushrooms are highly perishable of their high moisture content and delicate in
nature.

Classification

Scientific name: Pleurotus florida

Common name: Oyster mushroom

Kingdom : Fungi

Phylum : Basidiomycota

Class : Agaricomycetes

Order : Agaricales

Family : Pleuroteceae

Climatic requirement- Oyster mushroom can be grown within a temperature range of 160C-300C for its
optimum growth. The favourable growing seasons are during Feb./mar- Oct/Nov in the hills and sep/oct-
mar/Apr in the plains.

FIG: OYSTER MUSHROOM

Material requirements-

1. Paddy straw
2. Perforated Ply bags(18’x12’)Mushroom spawn
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3. Room with bamboo racks

4. Equipment's like chaff cutter and boiling drum
5. Buckets and sprayers.

BUILDINGS AND OTHER FACILITIES

Most ordinary buildings are not suitable for mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms have some basic
requirements for the environment.

a) Temperature of 150-200C and humidity of 80-90%. Both temperature and humidity should be kept as
constant as possible as any rapid changes in temperature will cause disastrous changes in humidity.
b) Good ventilation: - It is needed for healthy mushroom and health of the growers. Ventilation removes
CO2 formed by mushrooms.
c) Light: - Light also helps in the growth of mushrooms. However natural daylight does not work well.

Fig. Room for mushroom cultivation.

METHOD OF CULTIVATION
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Cultivation Technology

The procedure for oyster mushroom cultivation can be divided into following four steps:
(i) Preparation or procurement of spawn
(ii) Substrate preparation
(iii) Spawning of substrate
(iv) Crop management

The production of the oyster mushroom can be conveniently summarized into a number of stages which
are to be strictly followed in order to achieve higher biological efficiencies (B.E). The stages are as
follows:

1. Mushroom growing house disinfection

2. Substrate preparation
3. Straw sterilization
4. Spawning
5. Maturation
6. Harvesting
7. Post-harvest handling.

1. Mushroom growing house disinfection

The mushroom growing house (MGH) is a very selective environment for the growing of the oyster
mushroom. This means that it must not give chance for the growing of other competitor organisms
which will compete for nutrients with our mushrooms e.g. bacteria, other fungi, viruses and pests-
flies, rodents etc. Since chemicals are not encouraged to practice organic farming which involves the
non chemical production of mushrooms by using biological control methods. However, chemicals
like hypo chloride (jik), dettol, formaldehyde or hydrogen peroxide can be used for initially
disinfecting the MGH or between cycles.

2. Substrate preparation
Oyster mushroom can be grown on various substrates viz. Paddy straw, maize stalks/cobs,
vegetable plant residues etc.Since paddy straw is easily available and cheap, it is widely used. Paddy
straw should be fresh and well-dried.

Spawn Preparation
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A pure culture of Pleurotus spp. is needed for inoculation on sterilized substrate. It takes 10-15 days for
mycelial growth on cereal grains. It has been reported that jowar and bajra grains are superior over wheat
grains.
Substrate Preparation
Oyster mushroom can be cultivated on a large number of agro-wastes having cellulose and lignin which
helps in more enzyme production of cellulose that is correlated with more yield. These include straw of
paddy, wheat and ragi, stalk and leaves of maize, millets and cotton, used citronella leaf, sugarcane bagasse,
saw dust, jute and cotton waste, dehulled corncobs, pea nut shells, dried grasses, sunflower stalks, used tea
leaf waste, discarded waste paper and synthetic compost of button mushrooms etc. It can also be cultivated
by using industrial wastes like paper mill sludge, coffee by products, tobacco waste, apple pomace etc. The
popular methods of substrate preparation are:
· Steam Pasteurization;
· Hot Water Treatment;
· Sterile Technique (Till method);
· Fermentation or Composting
Chemical Sterilization.

Fig: hot water treatment

Spawning of Substrate

Freshly prepared (20-30 days old) grain spawn is best for spawning. Old spawn (3-6 months) stored at room
temperature (at 20-300 C) forms a very thick mat like structure due to mycelial aggregation and sometimes
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young pinheads and fruit bodies start developing in the spawn bottle itself. The spawning should be done in
a pre-fumigated room (48hrs with 2% formaldehyde).

3. Straw sterilization
Cut the paddy straw into 2”long and then fill the gunny bag which is then soaked in water for an
hour after which the excess water is allowed to drain out. A drum of 220L capacity is filled with a
small amount of water with a wooden frame placed at the bottom of the drum is taken. Straw filled
gunny bags are kept at the top of the wooden frame so as to avoid it from getting soaked in water.
The open end of the drum is sealed with plastic sheet during sterilization. Sterilization of the straw is
considered once the water starts boiling which should be done for an hour after reaching boiling
point. On completion of sterilization the gunny bags are taken out n allowed to cool..

Fig: straw bed making & spawn spreading

4. Spawning
The sterilized straw is filled into the perforated poly-bags by slightly pressing so as to form about
3”thickness of the first layer. Then spread 20g of spawn uniformly over the entire straw layer and
repeat the process till 4-5 layers of straw ensuring that there is proper pressing for every layer.

Crop Management
(A) Incubation
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Spawned bags, trays or boxes are arranged in a dark cropping room on raised platforms or shelves for
mycelial colonization of the substrate. Although mycelium can grow from 10 to 330 C, but the optimum
temperature for spawn running lies between 220- 260 C.

FIG: FRUITING BODY

Fig: polybag filling

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(B) Fruiting
When the mycelium has fully colonized the substrate, the fungus is ready for fruiting. Contaminated bags
with moulds may be discarded while bags with mycelial growth may be left for few more days to complete
mycelia growth.
While various species require different temperature regimes all require high humidity (70- 85%) during
fruiting. Frequent spraying of water is required in the cropping room depending upon atmospheric
humidity. Fruit body produced under humid conditions (85 -90%) is bigger with less dry matter while those
developed at 65-70% relative humidity are small with high dry matter.
CO2 concentration during cropping should be less than 600 ppm. or 0.6%. Sufficient ventilation has
to be provided during fruiting.

5. Spawn running
Now compress the bag n tie its mouth with binding rope and the spawned bags are kept in a room
away from direct sunlight for incubation at a temperature between 200-300C . After 3 weeks or so
the whole substrate turns white which indicate the spawn run completion. So the plastic cover is
removed and the bags are placed by tying in bamboo poles inside the growing room. Watering
should be done2 days after opening of the bag and within 2-3 days mushroom primordial begins to
form.
6. Harvesting
The first harvest of mushroom can be taken in 5-7 days of pinhead formation by giving a gentle
twist of the fruiting body. Light watering should be given on daily basis and after a week another
sprout of pinhead will appear. 3-4 flushes during 1 cropping cycle can be obtained after which the
leftover substrate can be used for the production of manure.
7. Yield
An average yield of 0.75-1 kg fresh mushroom per cropping cycle is obtained.

FIG:MUSHROOM
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FLOWCHART OF OYSTER MUSHROOM CULTIVATION

Raw materials (paddy straw/vegetable plant residue)

Chopping

Soaking the straw (1 hr)

Drain off excess water

Fill up in gunny bag

Dip in hot water for 15 minutes

Drain off excess water

On cooling fill the bags 4-5 layers of 10 cm each with spawn

Arrange bags in shelves (spawn requires 20-25 days)

Pin head stage evolves (3-5 days)

Harvesting is done in 7 days

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DISEASES AND PEST MANAGEMENT

Green mould (Trichoderma spp.)

Small blue green cushions are seen on spawned and cased trays/bags. It also grows on dead pinheads of
mushrooms and cut stumps. Mushroom caps may turn brown on top side.

Bacterial Blotch:

Symptoms:The lesions induced by the pathogen on mushroom tissues are initially pale yellow but later it
become golden yellow or chocolate brown. Blotches generally appear when mushrooms are in the early
button stage, but can appear on mushroom of any growth stage including harvested refrigerated mushrooms or
mushrooms over-wrapped with a water tight film Typical spotting is observed at or near the edge of
mushroom cap, at the contact points between two mushroom caps, at crevices in clusters of mushroom or
wherever mushroom caps remain wet for a period of 4-6 hours or longer after water has been applied.
Severely affected mushrooms may be distorted and the caps may split where the blotch symptoms occur.

Sciarid flies: (Bradysia paupera, B. tritici)

• The adults are found to be grayish black, 2.2-3.2 mm long.

• In the female flies, the abdomen is swollen with pointed ovipositor.

• Larvae with dirty white transparent with visible alimentary canal and 6.0 to 8.0 mm long.
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MITES

• Quite abundant during composting and later during spawn run and cropping.

• All are not the pests of mushrooms

POST HARVEST TECHNOLOGY OF OYSTER MUSHROOM

Mushrooms continue to respire after harvest and the respiration rate of oyster mushroom is 3 times greater
than most fruits. However, there are certain measures which enhance the shelf-life and make the availability
of mushroom throughout the year at reasonable cost. These are the long term and short term preservation.

SHORT TERM STORAGE

 Harvesting and packaging:- Oyster mushroom should be harvested by giving a gentle twist of the
fruiting body. It is advisable to pick all the mushrooms at a time from the bag so that the next flush
will appear in time. Harvested mushrooms are then packed in perforated polythene bags.
 Storage:-Freshly harvested oyster mushroom can be stored at a temperature of 0-50C for 1-2 weeks
without loss in quality.
 Transportation: - The mushrooms are placed in trays or baskets containing crushed ice and over-
wrapped in paper. The tray or basket is then covered with polythene sheet of sufficient perforation.

LONG TERM STORAGE

 Drying of mushroom: -Drying or dehydration is the oldest method of preserving mushroom and is
still popular. Mushrooms for drying should be harvested at a matured stage. It can be dried in the
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sun or in mechanical dehydrator. After complete drying, mushrooms should be placed in air-tight
container in a cool and dry place. Dried mushroom can be grind-ed into powder for mushroom soup.
 Mushroom pickle: -Pickling is an economically viable way of preserving mushroom during the off-
season. It is a process to relish mushroom lovers when the cost of mushroom is too high.

 FIG. MUSHROOM PICKLES

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MARKET ANALYSIS AND STRATEGY-

Demand and Supply Patterns

This mushroom is not as popular as white button mushroom in the domestic market. Cultivation of this
mushroom on commercial basis would be more profitable as compared to white button mushroom as capital
costs are low.
The cultivation of this variety of mushroom is very simple and economical in rural areas where raw
materials and facilities required are easily available.

Mushroom cultivation in Nagaland is still in its early stages and has a long way to go before it picks up
its pace. Mushroom cultivation is very viable enterprise that can be taken up by the common people as the
cost involved is minimal and the returns are maximum. Mushroom cultivation can be taken Marketing of
fresh oyster mushroom does not pose any problem at present due to very low production. However, as
production increases linkage of producers with domestic markets and export oriented processing units will
need to be developed to ensure remunerative prices to the producers. Generally, export orders are too big to
be met by a single grower and as such co-operatives have to be encouraged to pool their produce for trading
the crop in a dried powder form in international markets.

Import / Export Trends

About 11,797 tonnes of fresh mushrooms and 4,099 tonnes of preserved mushrooms were exported to
foreign countries viz. U.S.A., France, Ireland, U.A.E., Russia etc. during the period 2001-2002. The
quantity of oyster mushroom exported is much lower than that of button mushrooms which constitute the
major share of exports

CONCLUSION

Mushroom cultivation has many facilities requirements. There are no shortcuts to those requirements.
If the requirements are not met, failure, or at least poor production is assured. The facilities must provide
the environment required for mushroom growth and must also provide the primary protection against
insects, other pests and disease. Without the environment and protection provided by the facilities,
management cannot protect the crop or obtain good yields.

up as a part time or full time enterprise as not much effort is required for cultivating them. It can be
contributed in minimizing the unemployment problems faced by the state as the people can take up
mushroom cultivation as a full time occupation.
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Mushrooms were always a delicacy for the Nagas and now they have started to realize the medicinal
values of the mushrooms due to various educational initiatives taken by the state department in educating
the people. Due to the suitability of the weather condition a number of mushrooms can be grown in
Nagaland according to different seasons. Mushrooms are grown in various state nurseries, by private and
various self-help groups. Mushrooms sell at a high price per kg mainly due to the medicinal properties.
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UNIT II SERICULTURE

CONTENTS:

 INTRODUCTION

 SERICULTURE &ITS COMPONENTS

 MULBERRY CULTIVATION

 REARING TECHNOQUE

 MOUNTING & HARVESTING

 POST COCOON PROCESSING

 DISEASE & PEST OF SILKWORM

 SILK & ITS USE

 RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT IN SERICULTURE

 CONCLUSION
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INTRODUCTION

History
rd
Silk production has a long history. Silk was discovered by Xilingji (Hsi-ling-chi), wife of China’s 3
Emperor, Huangdi (Hoang-Ti), in 2640 B.C. While making tea, Xilingji accidentally dropped a
silkworm cocoon into a cup of hot water and found that the silk fiber could be loosened and unwound.
Fibers from several cocoons could be twisted together to make a thread that was strong enough to be
woven into cloth. Thereafter, Hsi-ling chi discovered not only the means of raising silk worms, but also
the manners of reeling silk and of employing it to make garments.

Later sericulture spread throughout China, and silk became a precious commodity, highly sought after
by other countries. Demand for this exotic fabric eventually created the lucrative trade route, the
historically famous Silk Road or Silk Route named after its most important commodity. This road
helped in taking silk westward and bringing gold, silver and wool to the East. With the mulberry silk
moth native to China, the Chinese had a monopoly on the world's silk production.

After 1200B.C. Chinese immigrants who had settled in Korea helped in the emergence of silk industry
in Korea. During the third century B.C. Semiramus, a general of the army of Empress Singu-Kongo,
invaded and conquered Korea. Among his prisoners were some Sericulturists whom he brought back to
Japan. They helped in the establishment and growth of sericulture industry in Japan. Another story is
that a Chinese princess married an Indian prince. She carried silkworm eggs/mulberry cocoons in her
elaborate head dress. She disclosed the secret of raising silkworms thus, silk production spread in India.
In 550A.D. moth eggs and mulberry seeds were smuggled from China by two Nestorian monks, sent by
Emperor Justinian-I and silk production began in Byzantium. The technique of sericulture spread
th
throughout the Mediterranean countries during the 7 century AD and then to Africa, Spain and Sicily.
th
During latter part of the 19 century, modern machinery, improved techniques and intensive research
helped the growth of sericulture industry in Japan. At present, Japan, China, Korea, Italy, Soviet Union,
France, Brazil and India are the chief silk producing countries in the World.

Indian Scenario

Silk is Nature’s gift to mankind and a commercial fiber of animal origin other than wool.Sericulture is
th
practiced in India and India is the 5 largest producer of silk in the World. It has been identified as
employment oriented industry. All the sections of sericulture industry, viz. mulberry cultivation,
silkworm seed production, silkworm rearing, reeling and weaving of silk and collection of byproducts
and its processing provide a large scale employment, thereby a source of livelihood for the rural and
tribal people. Sericulture industry is rated as the second largest employer in India.
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Mulberry sericulture has been traditional occupation in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, A.P. and Kashmir;
Tasar one, in M.P., Chota Nagpur Division and Orissa; Muga one, in Assam, Nagaland, Tripura and Eri
one in Assam and West Bengal. North-eastern part of India is the only region in the world where all
four varieties of silk are produced.

Central and State level Government Silk Departments are actively engaged in addressing the objective
of promotion of sericulture in traditional as well as non-traditional regions. Sericulture is an agro-based
cottage industry involving interdependent rural, semi-urban and urban-based activities in which
estimated participation of women is about 60%.

In the light of women welfare through Sericulture industry, the Central Silk Board, a statutory
organization, under the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India has established a special component
of assistance to Women and NGO’s into the National Sericulture Project.
There are four major research centre for Sericulture in India:

1. Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute, Behrampur (Orissa).

2. Central Sericulture Research and Training Institute, Mysore (Karnataka).

3. Central Tasar Research and Training Institute, Ranchi (Jharkhand).

4. Central Silk Technological Research Institute, Bangalore (Karnataka).

Sericulture and its components

Commercial rearing of silk producing silkworm is called sericulture. It is an agro-based industry

comprising three main components: i) cultivation of food plants of the worms, ii) rearing of silk worms,
and iii) reeling and spinning of silk. The first two are agricultural and the last one is an industrial
component. There are four varieties of silkworms in India, accordingly sericulture is classified into
Mulberry Culture, Tasar Culture, Muga Culture and Eri Culture, and each one is described
separately in the following text.

1. Taxonomy

Silk producing insects are commonly referred to as serigenous insects. Silkworm is a common name
for the silk-producing caterpillar larvae of silk moths. Silk moths belong to Phylum - Artropoda, Class -
Insecta, Order - Lepidoptera, Super family - Bombycoidea. Bombycoidea comprises eight families of
which only Bombycidae and Saturnidae are the two important families the members of which produce
natural silk. There are several species of silkworm that are used in commercial silk production .

These are:

*Mulberry silk worm

• Bombyx mori (Bombycidae)
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• Bombyx mandarina (Bombycidae)

Order : Lepidoptera
Origin : CHINA
This silk worm is completely reared & domesticated. Mainly silk growing states are Karnataka ,
AP,WB,TN,J&K,etc together accounts 92% of country’s total mulberry raw silk production.

*Tasar silk worm

• Antheraea mylitta ( Saturnidae)
• Antheraea pernyi ( Saturnidae); OAK TASAR
• Antheraea yamamai ( Saturnidae)
• Antheraea paphia ( Saturnidae)
• Antheraea royeli( Saturnidae)
Origin : INDIA
Tasar is copper-ish color, coarse silk mainly used for furnishing and interior. Rearing conducted in nature
on trees in open. Mainly produced in Jharkhand , Orissa , & chattisgarh,WB,AP etc
* Muga Silkworm
• Antheraea assama ( Saturnidae)
ORIGIN : INDIA
It has golden yellow color silk ,that is progative of India and pride of Assam . it is
Semi domesticated and multivoltine silkworm.feed on aromatic leaves of SOM &SOALU
plants.
* Eri silk worm
• Philosamia ricini ( Saturnidae)
Origin : INDA
A multivoltine silkworm spun for open ended cocoons. Practiced mainly for protein rich pupae, a delicacy
of tribal. Practiced in north east states, Bihar, WB, & Orissa

2. Mulberry Culture

Biology of Mulberry Silkworm

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All the strains reared at present belong to the species Bombyx mori that in believed to be derived from
the original Mandarina silkworm, Bombyx mandarina Moore. China in the native place of this silk
worm, but now it has been introduced in all the silk producing countries like Japan, India, Korea, Italy,
France and Russia.

The races of mulberry silk worm may be identified on the basis of geographical distribution as Japanese,
Chinese, European or Indian origin; or as Uni-, Bi- or Multi-voltine depending upon the number of
generations produced in a year under natural conditions; or as Tri-, Tetra- and Penta-moulters according
to the number of moults that occur during larval growth; or as pure strain and hybrid variety according
to genetic recombination.

Life Cycle

Life cycle of the silkworm consists of four stages i.e. adult, egg, larva, and pupa. The duration of life cycle
is six to eight weeks depending upon racial characteristics and climatic conditions. Multi-voltine races
found in tropical areas have the shortest life cycle with the egg, larval, pupal and adult stages lasting for 9-
12 days, 20-24 days, 10-12 days and 3-6 days, respectively. Seven to eight generations are produced in
multi-voltine races.

In uni-voltine races, the egg period of activated egg may last for 11-14 days; the larval period, 24-28 days;
the pupal period, 12-15 days and the adult stage, 6-10 days.

In case of bi-voltine races, however, the second generation eggs do not hibernate and hatch within 11-12
days and produce second generation normally during summer and it is the third generation eggs which
undergo hibernation and hatches in the next spring, and thus producing two generations in one year
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Fig. Life Cycle of Bombyx mori.

Egg

Egg is round and white. The weight of newly laid 2,000 eggs is about 1.0 g. It measures 1-1.3 mm in length
and 0.9-1.2 mm in width. With time, eggs become darker and darker. Races producing white cocoons lay
pale yellow eggs; while races producing yellow cocoons lay deep yellow eggs. In case of hibernating eggs
laid by bi-voltine and uni-voltine races, the egg colour changes to dark brown or purple with the deepening
of colour of the serosal pigments.

Larva

After 10 days of incubation, the eggs hatch into larva called caterpillar. After hatching caterpillars need
continuous supply of food, because they are voracious feeders. Newly hatched caterpillar is about 0.3
cm in length and pale yellowish white.

The larval body in densely covered with bristles.The larval body is composed of head, thorax and
abdomen. The head consist of six fused segments. It carries the appendages: antennae, mandibles,
maxillae and labium. Median epicranial suture, clypeus and labrum are well developed and prominent.
Six pairs of larval eyes or ocelli are located a little above the base of antennae. Five segmented antennae
are used as sensory organs.

The thorax has three segments: prothorax, mesothorax and metathroax. Each of the thoracic segments
carries ventrally one pair of true legs, which are conical in shape and carry sharp distal claw.
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Abdomen consists of eleven segments, though only nine can be distinguished, as the last three are fused
together to from the apparent ninth segment. Third to sixth and last abdominal segment bear a pair of
abdominal legs, which are fleshy, un-jointed muscular protuberance. Eighth abdominal segment bears
caudal horn on the dorsal side.

The abdominal segments carry the sexual markings on ventral side, which are developed distinctly
during fourth and fifth instars in the eighth and ninth segments. In females, the sexual marking appear as
a pair of milky white spot in each of the eighth and ninth segments and are referred to as Ishiwata’s
Fore Gland and Ishiwata’s Hind Gland respectively. In males a small milky white body known as
Herold’s Gland.

The larval growth is marked by four moultings and five instar stages. The full-grown caterpillar
develops a pair of sericteries or silk glands. Sericteries or silk glands are modified labial glands. These
glands are cylindrical and divided into three segments: Anterior-, middle- and posterior-segments. The
inner lining cells are characterized by the presence of large and branched nucleus. These glands secrete
silk which consists of an inner tough protein, fibroin, enclosed by a water soluble gelatinous protein,
sericin.

In Bombyx, the fibrinogen which on extrusion is denatured to fibroin is secreted in the posterior
segment of the gland and form the core of the silk filament in the form of two very thin fibres called
brins. The sericin, a hot water soluble protein, secreted by middle segment of the gland, holds the brins
together and covers them. The duct from another small gland called Lyonnet’s gland, that lubricates the
tube through which the silk passes, joins the ducts of the silk glands. Finally, the silk is moulded to a
thread as it passes through the silk press or spinneret.

Fig: larvae of mulberry silkworm.

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Pupa

Pupa is the inactive resting stage. During this period, biological activity of larval body and its internal
organs undergo a complete change and assume the new form of adult moth. The mature silkworm passes
through a short transitory stage of pre- pupa before becoming a pupa. Soon after pupation the pupa is white
and soft but gradually turns brown to dark brown, and the pupal skin becomes harder.

A pair of large compound eyes, a pair of antennae, fore and hind-wings, and the legs are visible. Ten
segments can be seen on the ventral side, but only nine are visible on the dorsal side.The pupa is covered
within a thick, oval, white or yellow silken case called cocoon. The pupal period may last for 8-14 days .

Adult

The adult of Bombyx mori is about 2.5 cm in length and pale creamy white. After emergence the adult is
incapable of flight because of its feeble wings and heavy body. It does not feed during its short adult
life. The body of moth has general plan of insect body organization .The ocelli are absent. The antennae
are conspicuous, large and bipectinate. The meso- and meta-thorax bear a pair of wings. The front pair
overlap the hind pair when the moth is at rest.

The moth is uni sexual and shows sexual dimorphism. In male eight abdominal segments are visible;
while in female, seven. The female has comparatively smaller antennae. Its body and the abdomen are
stouter and larger, and it is generally less active than male. The male moth possesses a pair of hooks
known as harpes at its caudal end; while the female has a knob like projection with sensory hair. Just
after emergence, male moths copulate with female for about 2-3 hours, and die after that. The female
starts laying eggs just after copulation, which is completed within 24 hours. A female lays 400-500
eggs. The eggs are laid in clusters and are covered with gelatinous secretion of the female moth.

Mulberry Cultivation
Cultivation of mulberry plants is called moriculture. There are over 20 species of mulberry, of which
four are common: Morus alba, M. indica, M. serrata and M latifolia. Mulberry is propagated either by
seeds, root- grafts or stem cuttings, the last one being most common. Cuttings, 22-23 cm long with 3-4
buds each and pencil thick, are obtained from mature stem. These are planted directly in the field or first
in nurseries to be transplanted late.

Harvesting of leaves for feeding larva is done in three ways: leaf picking, branch cutting and top shoot
harvesting. In leaf picking, individual leaves are handpicked. In branch cutting method, entire branch
rd
with leaves are cut and offered to 3 instar larva. In top shoot harvesting, the tops of shoots are clipped
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th th
and given to the 4 & 5 instars.
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Fig: mulberry field in RSRS, Sahaspur

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It is estimated that 20,000 to 25,000 kg of leaves can be harvested per hectare per year under optimum
conditions. It has also been estimated that to rear one box of 20,000 eggs, 600-650 kg of leaves are required
for spring rearing and 500-550 kg for autumn rearing in Japan. In India, to rear 20,000 eggs the quantity of
leaves required is about 350-400 kg. Soil & climate: the temperature should be 13 Degree Celsius to 37.7
degree Celsius. The ideal temperature should be between 24 to 28 degree Celsius with relative humidity 65
to 80% and sun shine duration of 5 to 12 hours per day. Varieties : diploid varieties ; S 30 , S 54, S 13, S
34, RFS 135 ANEUPLOIDS: Kanva 2, S36 Rainfied: S13, S34, RFS 175, PALLADAM LOCAL .
NURSERY BED PREPARATION: 800sq m area of red loamy soil near water source for raising 1 ha
main field. Apply 1600kg of FYM @ 20 T/ha in nursery ares. Bed size of 3m x 1.7m is used .Irrigate once
in 3 days. Endosulfan , malathion, quinalphos etc are used against termite attack. 100g of urea /m2 applied
between 55 and 60 DAP with weeding. nutritional requirements: soil application of 300kg N /ha in 5
splits dose, and foliar application of DAP 120kg/ha in 2 splits dose. Water requirement: about 1250 to
1500mm of water over a period of 12 months. Pruning : methodical removal of branches of leaves is
essential for mulberry plant. Done through out the year. Harvesting : 3 methods , (i) leaf picking (ii) branch
cutting ( iii) whole shoot harvest
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Rearing Equipment's
i) Rearing house: The rearing house should meet certain specification, as the silk worms are very
sensitive to weather conditions like humidity and temperature. The rearing room should have proper
ventilation optimum temperature and proper humidity. It should be ensured that dampness, stagnation
of air, exposure to bright sunlight and strong wind should be avoided.

ii) Rearing stand: Rearing stands are made up of wood or bamboo and are portable. These are the
frames at which rearing trays are kept. A rearing stand should be 2.5 m high, 1.5 m long and
1.0 m wide and should have 10 shelves with a space of 20 cm between the shelves. The trays
are arranged on the shelves, and each stand can accommodate 10 rearing trays.

iii) Ant well: Ant wells are provided to stop ants from crawling on to trays, as ants are serious
menace to silk worms. They are made of concrete or stone blocks 20 cm square and 7.5 cm
high with a deep groove of 2.5 cm running all round the top. The legs of the rearing stands
rest on the centre of well filled with water.

iv) Rearing tray: These are made of bamboo or wood so that they are light and easy to handle. These
are either round or rectangular.
o
v) Paraffin paper: This is a thick craft paper coated with paraffin wax with a melting point of 55 C.
It is used for rearing early stages of silk worms and prevents withering of the chopped leaves
and also help to maintain proper humidity in the rearing bed.

vi) Foam rubber strips: Long foam rubber strips 2.5 cm wide and 2.5 cm thick dipped in water are
kept around the silkworm rearing bed during first two instar stages to maintain optimum
humidity. Newspaper strips may also be used as a substitute.

vii) Chopsticks: These are tapering bamboo rods (1cm in diameter) and meant for picking younger
stages of larvae to ensure the hygienic handling.

viii) Feathers: Bird feathers preferably white and large are important items of silkworm rearing
room. These are used for brushing newly hatched worms to prevent injuries.

ix) Chopping board and Knife: The chopping board is made up of soft wood it is used as a base for
cutting leaves with knife to the suitable size required for feeding the worms in different
instar stages.

x) Leaf chambers: These are used for storing harvested leaves. The sidewalls and bottom are made
of wooden strips. The chamber is covered on all sides with a wet gunny cloth.
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xi) Cleaning net: These are cotton or nylon nets of different mesh size to suit the size variations of
different instars of the silk worm. These are used for cleaning the rearing beds, and at least
two nets are required for each rearing tray.

xii) Mountages: These are used to support silkworm for spinning cocoons. These are made up of
bamboo, usually 1.8 m long and 1.2 m wide. Over a mat base, tapes (woven out of bamboo and 5-6
cm wide) are fixed in the form of spirals leaving a gap of 5-6 cm. They are also called chandrikes.
Other types of mountage such as centipede rope mountage, straw cocooning frames etc. are also
used.

xiii) Hygrometers and Thermometers: These are used to record humidity and temperature of the
rearing room.

xiv) Feeding stands: These are small wooden stands (0.9 m height) used for holding the trays during
feeding and bed cleaning.

Procurement of quality seeds

The most important step in silkworm rearing is the procurement of quality seeds free from diseases. Seeds
are obtained from grainages, which are the centers for production of disease free seeds of pure and hybrid
races in large quantities. These centers purchase cocoons from the certified seed cocoon producers. These
o
cocoons are placed in well-ventilated rooms with proper temperature (23-25 C) and humidity (70-80 %),
and emergence of moth is allowed. Grainage rooms may be kept dark, and light may be supplied suddenly
on the expected day of emergence to bring uniform emergence. The females are then made to lay eggs on
paper sheets or cardboard coated with a gummy substance. Egg sheets are disinfected with 2% formalin,
and then washed with water to remove traces of formalin and then dried up in shades. The eggs are
transported in the form of egg sheet. To loosen the eggs, the sheets are soaked in water. The loose eggs are
washed in salt solution of 1.06-1.10 specific gravity to separate out unfertilized eggs and dead eggs floating
on surface. Prior to the final washing, the eggs are disinfected with 2% formalin solution.

BRUSHING: The process of transferring the silkworm to rearing trays is called brushing. Suitable
time for brushing is about 10.00 am. Eggs at the blue egg stage are kept in black boxes on the days prior to
hatching. The next day they are exposed to diffused light so that the larvae hatch uniformly in response to
photic stimuli. About 90% hatching can be obtained in one day.
Bed Cleaning

Periodical removal of left over leaves and worms’ excreta may be undertaken and is referred to as bed
cleaning. It is necessary for proper growth and proper hygiene. Four methods are adopted: conventional
method, husk method, net method, and combined husk and net method.
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Spacing

Provision of adequate space is of great importance for vigorous growth of silkworms. As the worms grow in
size, the density in the rearing bed increases and conditions of over crowding are faced. Normally it is
necessary to double or triple the space by the time of moult from one to other instar stage, with the result
th
that from the first to third instar the rearing space increases eight fold. In 4 instar, it is necessary to increase
th
the space by two to three times and in 5 instar again twice. Thus, the rearing space increases up to hundred
folds from the time of brushing till the time of maturation of worms.

Fig: 1st instar larvae fig: 2nd instar larvae

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Mounting Transferring mature fifth instar larvae to mountages is called mounting. When larvae are fully
mature, they become translucent, their body shrinks, and they stop feeding and start searching for suitable
place to attach themselves for cocoon spinning and pupation. They are picked up and put on mountages.
The worms attach themselves to the spirals of the mountages and start spinning the cocoon.

Harvesting of Cocoons

The larva undergoes metamorphosis inside the cocoon and becomes pupa. In early days, pupal skin is
tender and ruptures easily. Thus, early harvest may result in injury of pupa, and this may damage the silk
thread. Late harvest has a risk of threads being broken by the emerging moth. It is, therefore, crucial to
harvest cocoons at proper time. Cocoons are harvested by hand. After harvesting the cocoons are sorted out.
The good cocoons are cleaned by removing silk wool and faecal matter and are then marketed.

The cocoons are sold by farmers to filature units through Cooperative or State Govt. Agencies. The cocoons
are priced on the basis Rendita and reeling parameters. Rendita may be defined as number of kg of cocoon
producing 1 kg of raw silk.

Fig; 5th instar larvae of silkworm fig: late age larvae of silkworm

Post Cocoon Processing

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It includes all processes to obtain silk thread from cocoon.

1.Stifling

The process of killing pupa inside cocoon is termed as stifling. Good-sized cocoon 8-10 days old are
selected for further processing. Stifling is done by subjecting cocoon to hot water, steam, dry heat, sun
exposure or fumigation.

2.Cocoon boiling

Immersing the cocoon in boiling water dissolves the gummy material that binds the winding
segments of the thread and thus one end of silk can easily be traced out.

3.Brushing

It is done to seek the free end of the silk filament in cocoons.

4. Reeling

The process of removing the threads from killed cocoon is called reeling. The cocoons are cooked first in
o
hot water at 95-97 C for 10-15 minutes to soften the adhesion of silk threads among themselves, loosening
of the threads to separate freely, and to facilitate the unbinding of silk threads. This process is called
cooking. Cooking enables the sericin protein to get softened and make unwinding easy without breaks. The
cocoons are then reeled in hot water with the help of a suitable machine. Four or five free ends of the
threads of cocoon are passed through eyelets and guides to twist into one thread and wound round a large
wheel. The twisting is done with the help of croissure. The silk is transferred finally to spools, and silk
obtained on the spool is called the Raw Silk or Reeled Silk. The Raw silk is further boiled, stretched and
purified by acid or by fermentation and is carefully washed again and again to bring the luster. Raw Silk or
Reeled Silk is finished in the form of skein and book for trading.

The waste outer layer or damaged cocoons and threads are separated, teased and then the filaments are
spun. This is called Spun Silk.

5. Re – reeling

The raw silk is first reeled on small reels, allowed to properly dry up on them & re-reeled on large reels.

6.Finishing

This includes the removal of visible defects of the raw silk thread like oversize knots, loose ends, etc.
The raw silk is boiled , stretched , purified by acid or fermentation and washed repeatedly to bring out
the characteristic luster of the silk .

7.Testing
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The raw silk is put to a number of tests to asses its size variations , winding quality, neatness,
evenness, cohesion, and tenacity to meet the national & international silk.

Diseases And Pests Of Silkworm

1. Diseases
􀂾 Pebrine: Pebrine is also known as pepper disease or corpuscle disease. The disease is caused by a
sporozoan, Nosema bombycis (family Nosematidae). The main source of infection is food
contaminated with spores. Infection can be carried from one larva to another by the spores contained
in faeces or liberated in other ways by the moths carrying infection. Pebrinized eggs easily get
detached from the egg cards. They may be laid in lumps. The eggs may die before hatching. The
larva shows black spots. They may become sluggish and dull, and the cuticle gets wrinkled. Pupa
may show dark spots. Moths emerging from pebrinized cocoons have deformed wings and distorted
antennae. The egg laying capacity of the moth becomes poor.

Control: collect & burn diseased eggs, larvae, pupae and moth etc

Fig: pebrine

􀂾 Flacherie: Flacherie is a common term to denote bacterial and viral diseases. It has been classified
into following types:-

i) Bacterial diseases of digestive organs: Due to the poor supply of quality mulberry leaves, the
digestive physiology of the silkworm is disturbed, and multiplication of bacteria occurs in
the gastric cavity. Bacteria like Streptococci, Coli, etc. have been found associated with this
disease. Symptoms, like diarrhoea, vomiting, shrinkage of larval body may be seen.

ii) Septicemia: Penetration and multiplication of certain kinds of bacteria in haemolymph cause
septicemia. The principal pathogenic bacteria are large and small Bacilli, Streptococci, and
Staphylococci etc. Symptoms like diarrhoea, vomiting, shrinkage of larval body may be
seen. Appearance of foul odor is also a common symptom.
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iii) Sotto disease: It is caused by toxin of Bacillus thuringensis. The larvae become unconscious,
soft, and dark-ish and rot off.

iv) Infectious Flacherie: It is caused by a virus called Morator Virus which does not form
polyhedra in the body of silkworm larvae. The infection occurs mainly through oral cavity.
The virus multiplies in the mid-gut and is released into the gastric juice and is excreted in
faeces.

v) Cytoplasmic polyhedrosis: It is caused by a virus called Smithia which form Polyhedra are
formed in the cytoplasm of the cylindrical cells of the midgut. The larva loses appetite. The
head may become disproportionately large. Infection occurs through the oral cavity.

Control: spray 1% of extract of Psoralescoryleifoliaon mulberry leaves and feed once during 3
instars

Fig: Flacherie

􀂾 Grasserie: The disease is also known as Jaundice or Nuclear Polyhedrosis It is caused by a virus
called Borrelina, which form polyhedra in the nuclei of the cells of fatty tissues , dermal tissues,
muscles, tracheal membrane ,basement membrane , epithelial cells of midgut and blood corpuscles.
The infected larvae lose appetite, become inactive, membranes become swollen, skin becomes
tender and pus leaks out from skin. The larvae finally die.

Control:physical and chemical disinfection, various bed disinfectants are Vijetha,dithane M45 etc

Fig: Grasserie

􀂾 Muscardine or Calcino: It is of 3 types-

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i) White Muscardine: It is caused by the fungus, Beuveria bassiana. The larva loses appetite,
body loses elasticity and they cease to move and finally die.

ii) Green Muscardine: It is caused by Metarrhizium anisopliae. The larva loses appetite,
appears yellowish, becomes feeble and dies.

iii) Yellow Muscardine: It is caused by Isaria farinosa. Many small black specks appear on the
skin. Larvae lose appetite and dies.

Control: same as Grasserie

Fig; Muscardine

2. Pests
• Tricholyga bombycis, a dipteran fly of the family tachinidae, commonly known as Uzi fly.It is a
serious pest of silkworm larvae and pupae. It parasitizes Mulberry and Tasar silkworm.

• Dermestid beetles: These insects belong to the order Coleoptera, family dermestidae. This family
contains many genera and a large number of destructive species. Some of them are: Dermestes
cadverinus, D.valpinus, D.vorax, D.frishchi, and Trogoderma versicolor. The larvae bore inside the
cocoon and eat the pupa. These pests cause great damage and economical loss, as the damaged
cocoons cannot be reeled.

• Mites: Pediculoides ventricosus (order Acarina, class Arachnida) damage the larvae. The toxic
substance produced by the mite kills the silkworms.

• In addition, ants, lizards, birds, rats and squirrel also cause considerable damage to silkworm larvae as
well as the cocoons.

Silk and Its Use

1. Properties of the silk:

Silk contains 70-75% fibroin and 25-30% sericin protein. The biochemical composition of fibroin can
be represented by the formula C15H23N5O6. It has the characteristic appearance of pure silk with pearly
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lustre. It is insoluble in water, ether or alcohol, but dissolves in concentrated alkaline solutions, mineral
acids, and glacial acetic acid and in ammoniacal solution of oxides of copper. Sericin, a gummy
covering of the fiber is a gelatinous body which dissolves readily in warm soapy solutions and in hot
water, which on cooling forms a jelly with even as little as 1% of the substance. It is precipitated as a
white powder from hot solutions by alcohol. Its chemical formula is C15H25N5O8. It can be dyed before

or after it has been woven into a cloth. The weight in gram of 900m long silk filaments is called a
denier which represents size of silk filament.

Silk has following peculiar properties: -

1. Natural colour of Mulberry silk is white , yellow or yellowish green; that of Tasar brown; of Muga,
light brown or golden; and of Eri, brick red or creamy white or light brown.

2. Silk has all desirable qualities of textile fibres, viz. strength, elasticity, softness, coolness, and affinity
to dyes. The silk fibre is exceptionally strong having a breaking strength of 65,000-lbs/sq. inch.

3. Silk fibre can elongate 20% of original length before breaking.

3
4. Density is 1.3-1.37g/cm .

5. Natural silk is hygroscopic and gains moisture up to 11%.

6. Silk is poor conductor of heat and electricity. However, under friction, it produces static electricity.
Silk is sensitive to light and UV rays.
o
7. Silk fibre can be heated to higher temperature without damage. It becomes pale yellow at 110 C in
o
15 minutes and disintegrates at 165 C.

8. On burning it produces a deadly hydrocyanic gas.

8.2. Use of silk: Silk is used in the manufacture of following articles:

􀂾 Garments in various weaves like plain, crepe, georgette and velvet.

􀂾 Knitted goods such as vests, gloves, socks, stockings.

􀂾 Silk is dyed and printed to prepare ornamented fabrics for saries, ghagra, lehengas and
dupatta.

􀂾 Jackets, shawls and wrappers.

􀂾 Caps, handkerchiefs, scarves, dhotis, turbans.

􀂾 Quilts, bed covers, cushions, table-cloths and curtains generally from Eri-silk or spun silk.

􀂾 Parachutes and parachute cords.

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􀂾 Fishing lines.

􀂾 Sieve for flour mills.

􀂾 Insulation coil for electric and telephone wire.

􀂾 Tyres of racing cars.

􀂾 Artillery gunpowder.

􀂾 Surgical sutures.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN SERICULTURE

Central silk board , established in 1949 as statutory body under GOI is a national organization for overall
development of sericulture & silk industry. This board has established Central Sericulture Research &
Training Institute, each at Mysore, Behramampore & Pampore; Silkworm Seed Technology Laboratory at
Bangalore. For non mulberry sericulture research, Central Muga Eri Research and Training Institute at
Ladiogarh are functioning.

CONCLUSION

As per the practical experience gained during the project period for this branch, it led me to draw a
conclusion that sericulture is a vast field of great economic importance and having a lot of potential. India is
the only country having the ability to produce all the five kinds of silk and monopoly of producing Muga
silk. This allied sector of agriculture has the capacity to provide employment to the landless as well as
small farmers which may improve the living standard of the people. Silk also has much more high value
than other fibers so it can provide good returns and increase the economy of India manifold. So going for a
career based on silkworm rearing or post cocoon processing is quite a good option for new entrepreneurs or
agricultural graduates or farmers whichever the case may be.
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UNIT III SOCIO-ECONOMIC SURVEY

CONTENTS:

 INTRODUCTION

 SITE DESCRIPTION

 CHHARBA 2011 CENSUS DETAILS

 BENCH MARK SURVEY SCHEDULE

 FORMAT OF SOCIOECONOMIC SURVEY FORM

 INDIVIDUAL FARMER SURVEY OF SOME FAMILIES

 CONCLUSION
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INTRODUCTION

Socio-Economics (also know as Socio-economics or social Economic) is the social science that studies how
economic activity affect social processes. In general it analyzes how societies progress, stagnate or regress
because of their local or regional economy, or the global economy . In other words, to put simply, Socio-
economic study is the study in which focus on social status denotes age, education, family size, social
participation ( Panchayat , coop society, social worker, caste leader and youth club) source of
communication (informal , formal sources) and source contact (block personnel, village pardhan , research
station, developmental agencies and so on. Economic status denotes housing , size of holding occupation,
land operation (orchard / paddy land/ irrigation facilities/ canal / well/ tank/ (tube well) farm power, farm
implements, livestock, material possession etc.

Socio-economic study of village is to observe inter- relationships between environmental and socio-
economic Conditions, in certain areas that includes forest, rivers, climatic conditions etc.

Its aim at the finding of innovative solutions for socially, economically or environmentally based issues and
to satisfy the needs of members and users which have been ignored or inadequately fulfilled by the private
or public sectors.

OBJECTIVES

 To assess the social status of the village i.e. education, heal care, rural poverty, alleviation,
agricultural status, cattle rearing, forest produce, employment etc.
 To study the relationship between villagers and nearby forest.
 To study about the specific constraints related to the development of village.
 To know about the dependency of villagers on farming and about the types of crops, cultural
practices, crop compositions etc.
 To suggest certain measures to improve the socio economic conditions as well as the overall
development of the village.
 To know the attitude of the parents towards the education of their children’s.

How to know the socio-economic status?

The socio economic status of the village/community/farmers is known through various tools used for data
collections. The choice of method is influenced by the data collections strategy, the type of variable, the
accuracy required, the collection point and the skill of the enumerator. Links between a variable, its source
49 | P a g e

and practical methods for its collections can help in choosing appropriate methods. The main data collection
methods are as follows:

CENSUS

Complete Enumeration of the population which is done in population census. This is not applicable in social
science as it requires lot of time, money and man power.

Questionnaires

From which are completed and returned by respondents. An inexpensive method that is useful where
literacy rates are high and respondents are cooperative.

Interviews

From which are completed through an interview with the respondent. More expensive than questionnaires,
but they are better for more complex questions, low literacy or less cooperation.

Direct observations

Making direct measurements the most accurate method for any variables, but is often expensive.

Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)

This is one of the techniques of data collections PRA has evolved and spread in early 1990 has been
described as a growing family of approaches and method to enable local(rural or urban)people to express
,enhance and share and analyze their knowledge of life and condition to plan and to act.

SITE DESCRIPTION

VILLAGE : CHARBA/ CHHARBA

BLOCK : SAHASPUR

DISTRICT : DEHRADUN

STATE : UTTARAKHAND

LANGUAGEB : HINDI, GARHWALI, PUNJABI

ELEVATION : 648 MSL

PIN CODE : 248197

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Fig: Google map of Charba.

Chharba 2011 Census Details

Charba Local Language is Hindi. Chharba Village Total population is 7268 and number of houses are 1425.
Female Population is 47.9%. Village literacy rate is 66.1% and the Female Literacy rate is 29.1%.
Population, as per census data 2011

Census Parameter Census Data

Total Population 7268

Total No of Houses 1425

Female Population % 47.9 % ( 3478)

Total Literacy rate % 66.1 % ( 4804)

Female Literacy rate 29.1 % ( 2112)

Scheduled Tribes Population % 0.3 % ( 20)

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Scheduled Caste Population % 5.8 % ( 420)

Working Population % 26.6 %

Child(0 -6) Population by 2011 1013

Girl Child(0 -6) Population % by 2011 47.1 % ( 477)

BENCH MARK SURVEY SCHEDULE

1. Name of village :- Charba

2. Name of the Pradhan :-SEEMA DEVI
3. Block :- Sahaspur
4. District :- Dehradun
5. St :- Uttarakhand
6. Distance from :-
a. Nearest forest : 4km.
b. Nearest market : 5km.
7. Facilities in village:-

Sl. No. FACILITY AVAILABILITY REMARK

A. Primary Health Centre Yes[1] General
B. Veterinary Hospital No Required
C. Water Supply Yes Gravity water
D. Seed Store Yes[Several] General
E. Plant Protection Unit No Not much necessary
F. Bank No Not required
G. Anganwadi Centre Yes[2] Not required

Other facilities:

 Subsidies in seeds and fertilizers from government.

 Subsidy for plantation
 Almost 24x7 electricity.
 Irrigation by canal.
 Self help groups active.
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Village Chharba is located in the Dehradun district and the Block of Sahaspur.Chharba village is
approximately 60km from the main Dehradun city. Village is 80% surrounded by forest which includes the
important tree species like: Eucalyptus globulus, Syzyium cumini(Jamun), Grevelia robusta(Silver oak),
Grewia optiva (Bhimal) etc. Different types of wild Animals: Leopard, Rabbit, Wild boar, Monkey etc.

Sampling procedure:

Simple random sampling technique was adopted for selecting the samples.

 Firstly a complete list of households of the village Chharba prepared.

 Total numbers of families were 200 and selected some families as sampling units.
 Thus a total number of 30 households were selected randomly for study.

S. no Category No of Farmer Average land

Holding
(Bigha)
1. Landless 2 0
2. Marginal 9 4
3. Small 9 8
4. Medium 7 10
5. Large 3 15

Social Status of Villagers at Village (Chharba):

Total number of Households Surveyed 30

Average Family members 6
Literacy Rate 60%
House type 60% Kaccha
Electricity 90%
Water Supply 90%
Toilet facility 100%
Religion category distribution 60% (Hindu) & 40%( Muslim)

Cropping pattern:
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Rabi Crops Zaid Kharif Crops

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Vegetables like Brinjal, Paddy rice (oryza sativa),
ladyfinger etc. Maize, Black gram
Barseem (Trifolium
alexandrinum) Fodder

 Wheat and Rice were the most important crops cultivated by the farmers at Charba village.
 FYM was mostly used as fertilizer for the better working of soil as well as growth of the crop.
 Other than this urea was the first choice used by the farmers.
 Energy Consumption: Most of the households were dependent on the LPG.
 Than firewood plays the main role which was obtained from nearby Forest and utilized for cooking
as well as heating purpose.

SOURCE OF INCOME EDUCATION

*Govt. JOB : 20% * Illiterate : 15%

*Private Job : 32% *Below high school : 15%

*Self Employed : 18% *Upto high school : 25%

* Farming : 12% *Intermediate : 28%

*Agriculture + job: 18% *Graduate & Above : 17%

FORMAT OF SOCIO ECONOMIC SURVEY FORM

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SURVEY FORM

*NAME OF THE RESPONDER :

*GENDER :
*AGE :
* RELIGION :
*NO. OF FAMILY MEMBER :
*OCCUPATION :
*MONTHLY INCOME :
*AGRICULTURAL AREA :
*MAIN CROPS GROWN :
*TYPE OF HOUSE :
*MACHINERIES/ACCESSORIES OWNED :
*NO. OF LIVESTOCK :
*FODDER COLLECTED FROM :
*GRAZING ACTIVITIES :
*FORESTRY/AGRICULTURAL INSTRUMENTS :
*SOURCE OF ENERGY :
*FUEL WOOD COLLECTED FROM :
*DISTANCE OF FOREST :

INDIVIDUAL FARMER SURVEY OF SOME FAMILIES:

Family no.1

 Name of the responder: Nareshchandra

 Gender: Male
 Age:63
 Religion:Hindu
 No. of Family members:6(2-M,2-F,2-Childerns)
 Occupation:Labour
 Monthly income: 15,000
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 Agricultural area: 6 Bigha

 Main Crops grown: Wheat, Rice,maize,sugarcane
 Type of house: pakka
 Machineries/ Accessories Owned:Nil
 No. of livestocks: 2 cows
 Fodder collected from: Ownland
 Grazing activities: Nil
 Forestry/Agricultural instruments: Khurpi, sickle.
 Source of energy: Wood, Gas, electricity.
 Fuel wood collected from: Market
 Distance of forest : 200m

Family no.2

 Name of the responder: Om prakash

 Gender: male
 Age:65
 Religion: Hindu
 No. of Family members:2(1-M,1- F)
 Occupation: Ex-service
 Monthly income: 10,000
 Agricultural area: Nil
 Main Crops grown: Nil
 Type of house: pakka
 Machineries/ Accessories Owned: Tv,refrigerator
 No. of livestocks: Nill
 Fodder collected from: Nill
 Grazing activities: Nill
 Forestry/Agricultural instruments: Nil
 Source of energy: Wood, Gas, Fuel,electricity
 Fuel wood collected from: Market
 Distance of forest: 3.5km.
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Family no.3

 Name of the responder: Rameshchandra

 Gender: Male
 Age:55
 Religion: Hindu
 No. of Family members:5(3-M,2-F)
 Occupation: Labour+farmer
 Monthly income: 8,000
 Agricultural area: 2 bigha
 Main Crops grown:wheat,rice,fodder
 Type of house: pakka
 Machineries/ Accessories Owned: Nil
 No. of livestocks: 2 cows
 Fodder collected from: Field
 Grazing activities: Agricultural Land.
 Forestry/Agricultural instruments: khurpi sickle
 Source of energy: Electricity
 Fuel wood collected from:Nil
 Distance of forest: 5km.

Family no. 4

 Name of the responder: Basantsingh

 Gender:male
 Age:60
 Religion: Hindu
 No. of Family members:7(2-M,3-F,3-childrens)
 Occupation: Labour+farmer
 Monthly income: 12,000
 Agricultural area:6 bigha
 Main Crops grown: wheat,rice,sugarcane
 Type of house: pakka
 Machineries/ Accessories Owned:Nil
 No. of livestocks: 2 buffaloes
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 Fodder collected from: Ownland

 Grazing activities: Nil
 Forestry/Agricultural instruments:Khurpi,sickle,hammer
 Source of energy: Wood, Gas, Fuel, electricity.
 Fuel wood collected from: Forest
 Distance of forest: 4km.

Family no. 5

 Name of the responder: Vidyadevi

 Gender: Female
 Age:42
 Religion: Hindu
 No. of Family members:6(2-M,2-F,2-childrens)
 Occupation:Labour
 Monthly income: 6,000
 Agricultural area: 2 Bigha
 Main Crops grown: Rice,Wheat,maize
 Type of house: Pakka
 Machineries/ Accessories Owned: Nil
 No. of livestocks: Nil
 Fodder collected from: Nil
 Grazing activities: Nill
 Forestry/Agricultural instruments: Harrow, Khurpi.
 Source of energy: electricity
 Fuel wood collected from: Market.
 Distance of forest: 2km.

Family no. 6

 Name of the responder: Veer chandra

 Gender: male
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 Age:50
 Religion: Hindu
 No. of Family members:7(2-M,2-F,3-chidrens)
 Occupation: Ex-service
 Monthly income: 25,000
 Agricultural area: 15 Bigha
 Main Crops grown: Rice,Wheat,maize
 Type of house: pakka
 Machineries/ Accessories Owned: Nil
 No. of livestocks: 1 cow,1 buffalo
 Fodder collected from: Agricultural Land.
 Grazing activities: Nill
 Forestry/Agricultural instruments: Harrow, Khurpi, sickle
 Source of energy: Wood, Gas, Fuel, electricity.
 Fuel wood collected from: Market.
 Distance of forest: 2.5km.

CONCLUSION
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From the survey and analysis of this information collected from the village , it is cleared that the economic
and living conditions of the people of Charba is average except some families who are quite developed but
the attitude of the people towards the society is commendable. Allied sectors of the livestock & apiculture
are growing quite well. Educational and productive steps should be introduced form overall development
and well being of the farmers. More development can be done if Govt. provides proper subsidies for some
parts of the cultivation .

In conclusion we can say that” Socio economic survey” is an integral part of the education system. It
actually help us to realize the conditions of the society, living standards of people. So the” Socio-economic
Survey” lays a pivotal role in our educational system.

UNIT IV APICULTURE
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CONTENTS :

 INTRODUCTION

 ORGANIZATION OF HONEY BEE

 LIFE HISTORY OF HINEY BEE

 BEEKEEPING METHODS

 BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENTS

 COMPONENTS OF HIVE

 USE OF HONEY AND ECONOMY OF BEEKEEPING

 INSECT ,PEST, & DISEASE & MANAGEMENT

 WHY BEEKEEPING

 CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION
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Apiculture denotes the scientific management of honey bees for commercial production of honey and other
bee products. The utility of honey bees to man has been known from prehistoric times. The bees have been
mentioned in the Vedas, the Ramayana, the Quran and other Holy books. The carvings of honey bees, their
combs and their hives are found on the tombs, coffins, crowns and maces of kings and on the coins of both
ancient and modern empires. Honey bees had been used as a weapon in the World War 1 and the mysterious
property of bee venom of relieving muscular pain has also been known for a long time. Beekeeping in India
has remained behind countries like USA, Canada, Europe, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Honey bees belong to the family Apidae of the order Hymenoptera. India is a unique country where
all the four species of honey bees have been found foraging under natural conditions. Two of them are wild
and make their nests in the open. They are Apis Dorsata Fabricius and Apis florae Fabricius. The other
two makes their nest in the open and can be domesticated to live in hives. They are Apis Cerana Fabricius
and Apis Mellifera Linnaeus.

i. Apis Dorsata.It is also called the rock bee or giant bee. These bees are found all over India from the
hilly tracts (1200m) to the plains. The bees are bigger in size than the other bees, measuring about
20mm in length. It builds a huge comb at the face of the rock, on branches of big trees and
sometimes on walls and buildings. The comb sometimes measures 1.5-2.0 meters across and each
colony of bees is capable of storing 20-40 kg honey.
ii. Apis Florae. It is also called the little bee and is about 7mm in length. It does not like darkness and
therefore, forms its comb in the open place, e.g. in the bushes, hedges, caves, chimney, corner of
roofs etc. It builds a small comb and only 250g honey is obtained at a time.
iii. Apis Cerana. It is also called the Indian bee or Eastern honey bee and is found everywhere in India
and its nature is quite different from rock bee, being mild in temperament and can be domesticated
easily. It is about 15mm in size. They build several combs side by side and parallel to each other but
are smaller than the rock bee. The honey and pollens are stored in the side combs while brood
rearing is restricted to the central one. On an average, 3-4 kg honey is found from a comb annually.
iv. Apis Mellifera. It is also called the European honey bee or the Italian honey bee and was introduced
in India in 1962 by Prof. A.S Atwal. The behavior and appearance of A. Mellifera is similar to A.
Cerana. The average yield of A. Mellifera is 20-25 kg per colony, but elite beekeepers have an
average honey yield of 50 kg per colony.
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Fig: Apis dorsata fig: Apis florae

Fig: Apis cerana indica fig: Apis mellifera

ORGANIZATION OF BEE COLONY

The honey bees are social insects and live in colonies with a highly organized system of division of labour.
Many combs are found in a colony in which the members of the family used to live. A family consists of
35,000 to 70,000 members, which includes a queen, 200-300 drones and workers.

Queen: Every colony has a queen which is the mother and the only sexually developed female. All the
members of the family are the products of the queen and so it is called mother queen. She mates the drone,
the male bees in the air once or more in her life-time and lays eggs throughout her life. A queen bee is 2-3
times bigger than a worker bee measuring about 15-20mm in length. She can be distinguished by her
extended abdomen and provided with a combined sting and ovipositor. She lays 800 to 1200 eggs per day.
A queen lives for 2 to 5 years and when it is weak or unable to lay eggs, it is replaced by one of the
daughter queens.

Drone: The drone is the male bee, the main function of which is to mate with the queen. It is smaller than
the queen and measures 15-17 mm in length. Drones are not permanent members of the colony. They are
driven out of the hive before the onset of monsoon and winter. They die due to starvation and are raised
only when new queens are reared.
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Workers: Under developed females which are produced from the fertilized eggs but remain sterile due to
non-availability of royal jelly are called workers. It is smaller in size than the queen and has a sting on the
terminal end of abdomen. The sting of the worker bee is a barbed structure which gets pulled out of her
body when she stings. The bee dies as a result if pulling of the sting.

They are responsible for all the work and for the maintenance and welfare of colony such as building
of comb with wax and its maintenance; collection of honey, pollen and water for the use of the colony; to
guard the colony against enemies; to take care of the queen and feeding of royal-jelly; to maintain the
temperature of hive by cooling and heating the comb as per requirement and to secrete the royal-jelly;
prepare a ‘bee-bread’ and to distribute these foods to grubs.

Fig : queen bee fig: drone bee

Fig: worker bee

LIFE-HISTORY OF HONEY BEES

The eggs are laid by the queen and when a colony wants to produce a new queen, the special cells are
constructed at the lower border of the brood comb. On these cells, single egg is laid by the queen, which
hatches in 3 days. The newly hatched are fed with royal-jelly. The grub is fully developed in 5-6 days and
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the queen cell is capped where grub changes into pupa and after 1 week adults come out by biting the cap of
queen cell.

Nuptial flight: After 2-3 days, the queen daughter takes nuptial flight accompanied by hundreds of drones
during the day. The male soon dies after copulation and the mated queen returns to the comb.

Ovipositor: After sometime, the queen daughter starts laying eggs and is called as queen mother. The eggs
hatch in 3-4 days.

Grub: From the fertilized eggs, queen and workers and from the unfertilized eggs drones are born. They are
fed wit royal-jelly for 2-3 days. The grub period lasts for 5-6 days.

Pupa: Full grown grub forms a cocoon and pupates inside the cell. The pupa period lasts for 7-14 days
depending upon the adults to be produced.

Fig: life cycle of honey bee

BEEKEEPING METHODS

Rearing the bees in artificial hives is known as beekeeping or apiculture. In India, the beekeeping industry
started with the designing of a small hive suitable for A. Cerana by Rev. Father Newton in 1910. This hive
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named ewton Hive’ is still popular for keeping A. Cerana. In earlier times, people after wrapping the
blanket on the body or after smoking at night, collected honey from the comb. This was a crude method.
After sometime, people thought to keep the honey bees and many villagers took interest in keeping honey
bees and provided various types of hives in their houses.

Thus, beekeeping can be dived into primitive and modern methods:

A. Primitive or Indigenous Methods

These methods can be divided into two categories:
1) Fixed type: providing a receptable in the wall of the house with an entrance and observation
holes.
2) Movable type: providing a basket, empty boxes, hollowed logs, bamboo, mud, pipes, earthen
pots, etc- anything that can protect bees from the sun and rain.
B. Modern Method or Frame Hive Method
Frames are fitted with movable frames on which the bees are persuaded to build their combs. They
are usually composed of several boxes, one on top of the other, in
which hive frames are suspended. The lower boxes are used for holding the brood and the upper
ones are used for collection of honey, pollen and propolis.
The artificial comb was first introduced by Rev. L.L. Langstroth in 1851 in America. In India,
during 1910 Rev. Father Newton designed a small hive suitable for A. Cerana.

Fig: colony of Apis cerana indica

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BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT

The following equipments are required for beekeeping:

a. Beehive – they are wooden boxes having two parts: upper comb chamber and lower brood chamber.
A movable frame hive consists of the following parts: stand, floor board, alighting board, brood
chamber, hive frames, queen excluder, supers and covers.
b. Comb foundation
c. Smoker
d. Bee gloves
e. Scraper
f. Hive tool
g. Division board feeders
h. Wire embedders
i. Comb cutter
j. Bee brush
k. Cold uncapping knife
l. Steam uncapping knife
m. Uncapping basket
n. Bee veil
o. Honey extractor
p. Wire entrance guard
q. Queen cell protector
r. Swarm- catching basket
s. Drone trap
t. Bee escape
u. Queen cage
v. Dummy board
w. Overall

Apis Cerana

It is also called the Indian bee or Eastern honey bee and is found everywhere in India and its nature is quite
different from rock bee, being mild in temperament and can be domesticated easily. It is about 15mm in
size. These bees like to live in dark places and, therefore, establish their combs in closed covered places
such as hollowed trunks, burrows in the ground, hollowed place in walls, unused boxes etc. They build
several combs side by side and parallel to each other but are smaller than the rock bee. The honey and
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pollens are stored in the side combs while brood rearing is restricted to the central one. On an average, 3-4
kg honey is found from a comb annually. Generally, they do not migrate to leave their old combs. Two
types of Indian bees, viz. Plains type and hills types are found.

Fig. Apis Cerana colony.

COLONY MULTIPLICATION

Increasing the number of colonies is one of the management practices that help in increasing the production
in an apiary. A bee-keeper aims in increasing the number by a few colonies. This is often done by capturing
swarms or division of colonies in the apiary. In here, queen cells are utilized or after taking out a division
along with the queen, the remaining colony is left queenless. It gets settled after one of the virgin queens
emerges from the queen cell and gets mated and starts laying eggs.

A lot of planning –both time scheduling and material management has to be made for efficient colony
multiplication, taking into consideration the existing colony number, weather conditions, need for other
management like migration, forage availability, available man-power etc. One of the important
considerations is the total number of queen bees required for requeening the original stock and for the new
colonies that will be produced in the multiplication programme. Queen rearing is the first step to produce
new colonies. When the queen cells are ready for distribution, nuclei are prepared by taking out 2-3 brood
frames from strong colonies. A small proportion of the young bee population is also taken from these
colonies for stocking the nuclei. Mature queen cells are distributed among the nuclei. When the queen
emerges, it mates and starts laying egg and therefore new colonies are formed.

Colony multiplication can be undertaken only during periods of abundant availability of nectar and pollen,
so that the colonies grow in strength. Availability of forage is also necessary for atleast a month after the
nuclei are formed so that the colonies have sufficient time to establish. The farming and orchard or
plantation in the country offer these condition of forage availability continuously for over two months.
Many tropical crops in India pollen and several oilseed and pulse crops also provide nectar and pollen. In
places where nectar flow is not sufficient, stimulative sugar feeding is given to develop colonies to the
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required strength. In the major nectar flow areas it is often not possible to harvest a honey crop after
undertaking colony multiplication.

Advantages of rearing Apis Cerana over exotic breeds:-

 Apis Cerana is gentle to handle, industrious and well-adapted to the ecological conditions of
South-South East Asia.
 It is less susceptible than Apis Mellifera to nosema disease, not seriously affected by Varroa
and is less prone to predatory wasps.
 Chemicals are not required in beekeeping in A. Cerana to control diseases, parasites and
predators, unlike in beekeeping with A. Mellifera.
 For pollination purposes, A. Cerana is superior to A. Mellifera in the small holdings of these
regions because of its shorter flight range and longer foraging hours than the European
honey bee.
 Beekeeping with A. Cerana is a traditional occupation and forms an integral part of social
and cultural heritage of rural and tribal communities in the country. It is also known as an
environmental occupation.
 Colonies of A. Cerana are smaller than those of A. Mellifera which facilitates there easy
handling.

FIG. Cutting of combs to fit the brood frame

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Rearing techniques of Indian bee (Apis cerana indica)

History of rearing of Apis cerana indica:

In Asia, Indian bee has been domesticated for 3,000 years. The earliest record of Apis cerana
beekeeping was found in china. The modern bee keeping and rearing of Apis mellifera have been
introduced for the USA with cerana in china. Modern techniques were started to increase the colony
production, to select for high honey yield to control bee disease to rear queens and divide colonies
commercially.

Techniques:
 Grafting: All methods that stimulate the colony to build queen cells from the Wax cell cups take
advantages of the basic behavior by Which colony produce emergency cells in the absence of a
queen. A. Cerana rearing uses a frame with 1-3 bars, which have 10-20 cells cups mounted at
intervals.
 In double grafting” a young worker larva is grafted (transferred) as usual into a queen cell and the
next day its replaced with another young larva. When cells are double grafted care should be
exercised in the second transfer. The body of the first larvae must be discarded carefully.
 Unless the larvae are removed without materially changing the consistency of the jelly and start over
again, thus eliminating any beneficial effects of the double grafting.
 One to three days before the queen cells are ripe, a queenless nucleus or small colony, one queen is
then placed in each such colony.

 Control Mating: Instrumental insemination is important in selective breeding because it is only

way that a breeder can completely control which crones mate with a queen. Instrumental
insemination should not be seen as a replacement for natural mating, but as an additional tools that
gives a breeder absolute control over the mating. To increase the productivity of A. Cerana most
efficiently, some degree of control mating must be assured. The optimum methods of instrumental
insemination of this species can be worked out only when the details of its reproduction and details
of its mating behavior are better known.

 Queen production under natural conditions: Its possible to secure a few queen cells from a
colony which is preparing to replace an old or failing queen. If all the supersedure cells are removed
the colony will make others and the old queen does not disturb them. Occasionally it is found that an
old queen any young queen living together in the same colony.
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Components Of Beehive:

1. Stand
2. Bottom board
3. Brood Chamber
4. Brood Frame
5. Queen Excluder
6. Honey or super chamber
7. Top cover.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SOME BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENTS

1. Comb Foundation Sheet: It is a sheet of bee wax on both sides of which are depressions or
marks of the shape and pattern of the workers brood cells. Its prepared on the comb
foundation mill. The mill is fitted to the frame, supported by the metal wires fixed and
tightens horizontally.

2. Queen Excluder: To obtain a pure honey form extraneus matter it is necessary to separate
the broodiness form the surplus honey stores. This is done with the help of queen excluder
which is perforated sheet of Zinc or round wire which assembles together 3.7mm apart.
For Apis cerana, The worker with their thorax varying from 3.33 mm-3.50mm can pass through the
perforation but not the queens with their thorax varying form 4.40-4.50mm.
The wire entrance guard and the traps drones and also based on the principles of the queen excluder.
The former restrict the queen inside the hive and the later after routing the drone into upper chamber
trap them in.
3. Honey extractor:
It is a hand or motor operated centrifugal machine with revolving chambers, into
which the frame is fitted. As the handle is worked, Honey flows out of the frames by
the centrifugal force without breaking It. So that it can be used again in future.
4. Uncapping Knife: It is a flat sharp edged knife used for cutting the wax capping of honey
sealed honey cells. The frames are then placed in the honey extractor.
5. Bee Veil: It’s a head veil made of mosquito-netting and used to protect the face from the
stings of the bees.
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6. Smokers: Its used during the inspection of the hives. The bees are subdued when the
entrance of the hive is puffed with the smoker generated by a bellows type smoker. It
becomes easier to handle the bees.
7. Gloves: They are needed for beginner to protect the hands from the bee stings, but the
experienced bee keepers can handle the bees without gloves.

Fig: queen excluder fig: honey extractor

Fig: smoker

Important Products obtained from Bee Keeping:

1. Honey: It’s a good source of vitamin and sugars. Its antiseptic, blood purifier and also used to treat
gastric problems.
2. Bee venom:Its poisonous and also known as apitoxin. Its used in the treatment of arthritis and for
desensitizing people allergic to bee stings.
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3. Bee wax: Its used by the honey bees as a foundation for selling large spaces in honey comb. Its also
used in shoe and furniture polishes as well as in candle making.
4. Royal Jelly: Its secreted by 12 days old workers bees and mainly used for the nutrition and
development of the queen bees. Its used as medicine for ulcers, asthma, pre menstrual syndrome,
menopausal symptoms and also used in skin care and cosmetics.
5. Pollen: It’s a grain of flowers collected by the bees which contain all 22 amino acid, vitamin,
minerals and enzyme. Pollen has high food value and large market for human and veterinary
medicines.

Use of honey:

1. As Food: it is a rich, energy giving food and with milk forms a perfect and complete food, it
provides ready energy and is given us the first food for the new born infants. It is so highly
nutritious that one kg of honey is estimated to be equivalent to 5kg of milk, 1.5kg of meat, 40
oranges. It can be used with coffee, tea or milk in place of sugar. Honey mixed with butter and curds
can be used with chapatti, biscuits etc.
2. As Medicines:Its used as a carrier in many Ayurvedic and Unani medicines. Its by itself used as a
laxative and a blood purifier and as a curative for sore, ulcers in tongue and sore throat etc. Regular
use of honey is advocated for stomach and intestinal ulcers, being potentially alkaline as Fruits, it
does not produce acidosis.

3. In Religious Functions: honey is use in many religious rites.

Economics of Beekeeping:

Bee keeping is a non land based profitable vocation. In the modern agricultural system honeybees can be
considered as one of the important inputs for crop production. Beekeeping does not required particular land
and workers. Even the women and teenagers school goers of the family cane look after the colonies.
Considering ten colonies as an unit and average honey yield 10kg/colony for Indian bee, 20kg for western
bee and the market value of honey Rs. 150/kg, then the profit generated from honey will be Rs. 20,000/- for
western bee as worked out by AICARP on honeybee, AUU, Jorhatcentre.

 oval, the ripe cells are then separated. Small and poorly formed cells are discarded. The cells are
placed between layers of padded cloth to protect the queen in the cells and carried to the nucleus or
prepared mating hive.
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INSECT PEST AND THEIR MANAGEMENT

Natural enemies-

1. WAX MOTH : There are two species namely

GREAYER WAX MOTH(Galleria mellonella) And LESSER WAX MOTH ( Achroia grisella).
These moth make silken tunnel in comb under the cover of which they feed upon the wax. During
severe infestation the comb is covered with silken tunnel and faecal matter of the caterpillar due to
which the bees become incapable of guarding against them & they abandon the nest.

2. SPHINGED ( Acherontia spp.): it is also called honey robber . it sucks the honey from the comb with
the help of proboscis.

3. BLACK ANTS

4. BIRDS

Fig: robber honey bee fig: wax moth

DISEASES

1. NOSEMA: caused by protozoan Nosema apis , which attacks stomach cause dysentery , infected
bees are unable to fly more than a few meters, their stomach gets swollen and become white in color
Control: provide running water and full of sunlight, sterilize the brood boxes and frame hives with
40% formalin
2.AMOEBIC DISEASE: Caused by protozoan , Malphighamoeba mellificae , which infect the
malphigian tubules and cause dysentery .
CONTROL: Avoid winter brood rearing, provide running water and sunlight.
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3.ACARINE DISEASE: caused by parasitic mite Acarapis woodi, which enters into the trachea,
and feed upon the body fluids,eggs are laid in tracheas and get clogged , finally kills the bee.
CONTROL: by keeping a cotton soaked in methyl salycilate inside the hive in a flat tin with
perforated lid.
4.SEPTICEMEA: caused by bacteria Bacillus apisepticus, which is spread through contaminated
water getting into the breeding organ.
5.STONE BROOD DISEASES: caused by Aspergillus flavus, infection takes place by germination
of the spores in the alimentary canal of the larve.
CONTROL: The combs and equipment should be sterilized with formaldehyde fumes.
6.CHLAK BROOD DISEASE: caused by Pericystis apis, in which the larva converted into chalk
white masses of mycelium.
CONTROL: In case of an outbreak the comb should be destroyed and bees shifted to new place.
Dampness and poor ventilation should be removed.

Fig: NOSEMA DISEASE

FIG: SEPTICEMEA DISEASE

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FIG: STONE BROOD DISEASE

Why Beekeeping?

Apiculture and Agriculture –

1. Introduction: Beekeeping is a very fascinating occupation. It can be practiced equally by men, women,
grown up children and even by physically handicapped and old persons. The investment required is low,
and the economic returns are comparatively very high. Beekeeping does not bring any pressure on
agriculture land. It produces honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis from the flowers which otherwise dry up in
nature and go waste. Beekeeping is a decentralized industry and does not displace persons from their
villages. If conditions are favourable, level of beekeeping can be increased to semi-commercial or
commercial level. Though the honeybees are best known for the honey they produce, their economic role in
nature is to pollinate hundreds and thousands of flowering plants and assure seed or fruit set. Honeybees
thus play very important role in cross pollinating various agricultural and horticultural crops and increase
their yield per unit area and improve their quality. Agricultural scientists in America and Europe have
estimated that value of the increased crop yields due to honeybee pollination is several times more than the
value of the honey and beeswax the honeybees produce.

2. Honeybees and Forests: Honeybees and forests have been associated with each other for several million
years. Honeybees are an integral part of forests and their ecology. A healthy bee fauna is an indication of
healthy forest and its natural balance. This is so because bees and flowering plants have evolved together as
one biological unit over past million years. Hills and adjacent transitional belts and hills and surrounding
agricultural belts having mixture of forests and agriculture are of the unique biological wealth that could be
converted into economic wealth and can offer livelihood on a substantial basis. These are the best areas for
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promotion of beekeeping industry. Various development projects in the country, however, affected
beekeeping industry adversely due to deforestation, increasing land-use for agriculture, urbanization,
tourism development etc. All these factors reduce significantly the bee forage potential. It is necessary to
check this deterioration trend of the industry if this important income resource to the rural and tribal
population depending upon forests for their livelihood has to be maintained. This is all the more necessary
in view of the importance of honeybees as cross pollinators of various agricultural and horticultural crops.
Jamun, Soap nut, Shikekai, Amala, Harad, Karanj, Neem, Drumstick, Eucalyptus are a few plant species to
mention which have duel utility. The plant species should be such selected that there is a staggered
flowering and flora is available to the bees almost round the year. This will support insect population,
resulting into vibrant, lively and dynamic nature of the forests.

3. Role of Honeybees in Agriculture and Horticulture Until mid-20th century, honeybees were equated
with the production of honey and beeswax. But since past 3-4 decades, utilizing honeybees to pollinate
large number of agricultural and horticultural crops to increase per acre yield has become a routine practice
in many developed countries. Many commercial beekeepers in America prefer to provide honeybee colonies
on rental basis for pollination service rather than to take honey production. Beekeepers in California earn
about $150 per bee colony per month as a rental for providing bee colonies for pollination service.
According to Agricultural Scientists in U.S.A., value of increased crop yields due to honeybee pollination is
10 to 15 times more than the value of honey and beeswax the honeybees produce.

4. Crops Benefited by Bee Pollination: Experiments on effect of bee pollination on various crops were
conducted by Central Bee Research and Training Institute and various Agricultural Universities under All
India Coordinated Project on Honeybee Research and Training (ICAR). There is a good data available on
this subject from abroad also. A cross section of the cross fertile crops, self-sterile crops with different
degree of self-sterility and even self-fertile crops benefited by bee pollination is summarized below.
Oilseed: White mustard, Rape, Toria, Sarsoo, Lahi, Safflower, Sunflower, Linseed, Niger, Gingelly, etc.
Orchard Crops: Apple varieties, pears, plums, cherry, strawberry, raspberry, Litchi, citrus varieties, grapes,
cucumbers, squashes, melons, Almond, peach, guava, gooseberry. Legume seeds: Alfalfa, berseem and
other clovers, vetches, broad beans, dwarf beans. Vegetable seeds: radish, cabbage, turnip, carrot, onion,
cauliflower, gourds.

5. Integration of Apiculture and Agriculture Horticulture: Nearly 70 percent of the cultivated crops all
over the world are cross fertile and depend on insects like honeybees for pollination. Dwindling of
population of useful pollinating insects has become a global problem. This is due to pollution of water, air
and indiscriminate use of insecticides. Of all the pollinating insects, honeybees are considered as the most
efficient and reliable crop pollinators. Honeybees and flowering plants are interdependent for their biology
and life cycle. Thus Apiculture and Agriculture are interdependent for mutual benefits and cannot develop
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in isolation. The enormous benefit that honeybees silently offer to Agricultural and Horticultural crop
productivity and to national economy goes unnoticed. The beekeeping industry has rarely put itself forward
as a Key Factor in agricultural production. We know role of honeybees in pollinating large number of crops.
But the public and what is more painful is the planners are unaware of this cheap, but essential and eco-
friendly input. The input, which has quadruple benefits viz. 1) employment generation among rural and
tribal population, 2) providing supplementary income to marginal farmer, landless labours etc. 3) Producing
honey, beeswax from the nectar of the flowers which otherwise dries up in nature and goes waste and
finally the most important 4) increasing crop productivity and crop production through bee-pollination.
Ministry of Agriculture is planning for the Second Green Revolution. It may not be an exaggeration to say
that second green revolution may not yield desired results without honeybees. As honeybees and
agricultural crops are interdependent for their life cycle, Apiculture and Agriculture has to be integrated for
mutual benefits.

6. Beekeeping A Multidisciplinary Subject: In case of other domestic animals i.e. in dairy, poultry,
piggery etc. the animals are confined to shed and are fed with stored food as per their requirement. Contrary
to this, honeybees themselves go out in search of their food which is a live material that is flowers. Thus
beekeeping is very peculiar industry in the sense that there is an interaction of two living materials i.e.
honeybees at one side and the flowering plants on the other side. Beekeeping industry therefore involves
different biological sciences like Bee-botany, entomology, bee- behaviour, bee- management, bee-
pathology, bee-genetics, bee-breeding and quality control and handling of bee-products. In addition to this
designing of beekeeping equipment (Apiculture engineering) and providing graded training facilities in this
nontraditional new industry is also essential. An integrated approach and simultaneous attention to all these
aspects of beekeeping is required to be given for qualitative and quantitative development in the industry.
An over-view of the above aspect may be necessary to understand the industry in depth and to formulate
comprehensive perspective plan for the development of the beekeeping industry.

3- HONEY BEE PRODUCTS In India, honeybees are generally equated with honey production. Even
beeswax is considered as a by-product and much attention is not given for its collection and processing,
leave aside collection of other bee products namely, bee collected pollen and propolis, royal jelly and bee
venom. In the present global market, quality and competitive prices alone will govern the market and the
future of the industry. A beekeeper will therefore have to tap not only all the above bee products but also
provide his colonies on rental basis for pollination service and augment his income. Such strategy alone can
make the beekeeper self reliant and beekeeping a viable industry in the competitive market. It may however
be remembered that all the bee products are used either as food or in pharmaceutical and cosmetic
industries. For this reason, hygienic collection, handling, processing, storage etc. and maintaining National
and International purity standards are of prime importance. India is endowed with presence of three species
of the genera Apis, namely, A.dorsata, A.cerana, and A.florea and stingless honeybees of Trigona
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/Mellipona sp. Successful introduction of European honeybees A. mellifera, in India, has given a new
dimension to the beekeeping industry. Though large quantities of honey and beeswax are collected in India
and methods of their collection, processing etc. have been fairly standardized, methods of production of
other bee products are yet to be standardized for commercial use. Standardization of methods of collection
and development of market for these products and for their value added products will have to be
simultaneously looked into.

1. Honey In a single honeybee colony there are about ten thousand worker honeybees. Being social bees,
there is a highly evolved division of labour among these bees. Few scout bees, survey the area within a
radius of one Km. and collect the information about the direction, distance and quality of food – nectar and
pollen, available. By performing some dances, this information is passed on to other honeybees. The
honeybees then take a straight flight and land on the crop for collecting nectar and pollen. The honeybees
continue to visit this particular crop until its flowering withers away. This peculiar behavior or the floral
fidelity of honeybees makes it possible to get honeys from predominantly a single plant source and thus we
get uni-floral honeys like, Jamun honey, Mustard honey, Litchi honey etc. When density of a single plant
source is sparse in a particular area, then honeybees switch over to another plant species for gathering
nectar. Under these circumstances we get multi-floral honey. Each floral honey has a peculiar colour, taste
and flavour specific to the plant source. Except for these sensory tests, unifloral and multifloral honeys have
the same gross chemical composition.

2. Bees Wax: The process of evolution, honeybees appeared on the earth millions of years before man
made his appearance on this planet. As honey is said to be the first sweet substance known to man, beeswax
is said to be the first natural plastic known to man. The Egyptians in 4200 B.C. found numerous uses of
beeswax. They used to preserve mummies, to seal the coffins etc. Ship building industry was also a great
consumer of Beeswax. Beeswax was used for waterproofing the bottoms of the ships. The most important
property of beeswax, is its stable composition. Thousand year old beeswax cakes were recovered from the
sunken ships. The composition and properties of these wax cakes were unchanged over centuries.

3. Bee Collected Pollen Honeybees collect nectar, convert it into honey and store it as their carbohydrate
food. Similarly a single bee colony collects 25 to 40 Kg of pollen grains every year as a source of proteins,
vitamins, minerals, oils and fats etc. Pollen grains contains all types of nutrients required for the growth
young once in a bee colony and hence considered by many as a „Complete food‟. Pollen tablet are prepared
as “food supplement” by some Pharmaceutical Firms

3. Propolis Honeybees collect gummy material secreted by leaf or flower buds of some plants such as
poplars, conifers. This substance is known as propolis. Propolis is collected by European honeybees and not
by Indian honeybees. Honeybees use this resinous material to fill up cracks, crevices, and holes in the hive.
The hive entrance is reduced using propolis to protect the colony from intruders like wasps, lizards etc.
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Propolis has anti-bacterial and antifungal properties and it also acts as a repellent for many bee enemies.
Propolis is used in some pharmaceutical preparations.

4. Royal Jelly Queen bee lays two types of eggs, unfertilized and fertilized. From unfertilized eggs drones
or male bees develop. From fertilized eggs, either worker bee (sterile female) or queen bee develops. After
hatching of the fertilized egg, for the first three days uniform and same food is given to all the larvae. After
three days, larvae to be developed into worker bees are given courser type of food and the larvae to be
developed into queen bee are given abundant quantity of special food. This food brings miraculous changes
in the body of the queen bee and her life. The egg laying capacity and the extended life span is attributed to
the special food secreted from the hypopharyngeal glands of the young worker bees. This food is more
popularly known as “Royal jelly” or “Miracle food” Royal jelly is used in many pharmaceutical
preparations.

5. Bee Venom Most of the people know honeybees for the honey they produce so also they know that
honeybees are armed with sting which they use for the defense of the colony. Bee venom is now known to
have some medicinal properties. Methods have been standardized to collect bee-venom

6. Apitherapy From ancient times, man has exploited honeybees throughout the world, first for their sweet
honey and then for their protein rich brood and pollen. The use of beeswax came later and followed by other
bee products propolis, royal jelly and venom. In early 20th century, cane sugar was produced commercially.
Technology of commercial production of glucose was also developed. Since recently, fructose rich syrup
from corn, using enzymatic process, is being manufactured. In order to keep pace with changing times,
beekeepers and their organizations started looking for other avenues to augment their income. As a result,
traditional old therapy of using other bee products was revived and from 1960 onwards methods were
developed for commercial collection of pollen, propolis and venom and production of royal jelly from bee
colonies. Followed by these achievements, extensive research was done on all the six bee products for their
food and medicinal values and came into existence a new branch of medicine „Apitherapy‟ i.e. use of bee
products for treating various ailments.

MARKETING OF BEE PRODUCTS The Beekeeping Directorate concentrated its efforts on extension,
research and training aspects alone. Marketing of honey was looked after by the Beekeepers‟ cooperatives
themselves. The Beekeeping Directorate undertook marketing activity as a departmental activity since 1971
following a glut in honey market. It is estimated that wild honey contributes to nearly 70 per cent of the
total Indian honey production.

Honey Market

All tropical honeys including Indian honeys contain high moisture content (20 to 25 %), low enzymatic
value and high Hydroxy-methyl-furfurol (HMF) content, compared to European honeys. Honeys with
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higher moisture content are liable to ferment quickly. Low enzyme and high HMF contents are indicative of
over-heating during processing or long storage. Special care will have to be taken to collect, process and
pack Indian honeys to conform to International specifications.

a) Internal market: Compared to traditional wild honey, production of apiary honey is less and price-wise
it is more costly than wild honey. Apiary honey has therefore market in big cities and in pharmaceutical
industries, while wild honey finds market in small cities, villages, Ayurvedic preparations etc.

b) International market: During 19th century hundreds of European honeybee colonies were migrated to
North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand etc. These European honeybees are well
established in these countries and are being harnessed for production of honey, beeswax, royal jelly, pollen,
propolis and bee-venom. As against this, in India, we have 8 lakh bee colonies producing about 8000 tons
of apiary honey. FAO, WHO and European Common Market have laid down purity specifications for
honey based on the composition of Apis mellifera honeys. In developed countries honey is mainly used as
food, in food products, in bakery products and in breweries.

THE MAJOR CONSTRAINTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF BEEKEEPING IN INDIA ARE AS

FOLLOWS

Using the Correct Species for Beekeeping

Availability of Genetically Superior Queens for Increased Honey Production

Lack of Technical Knowledge for Efficient Management of Colonies for High Honey Yields

Lack of Infrastructure at the Grass Roots and National Level for Beekeeping

Poor Quality Control for the Production of Honey

Emphasis on Production of Honey Instead of other Bee Products.

CONCLUSION

From many viewpoints viz. employment generation among rural youths and tribal population, producing
valuable products like, honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis, venom and royal jelly and above all increasing the
yields qualitatively and quantitatively, of various agricultural and horticultural crops, beekeeping has to be
developed on priority basis. Apiculture and Agriculture are interdependent and cannot develop in isolation.
Integration between Apiculture and Agriculture is therefore essential for mutual benefits and development.
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Because of the peculiar nature of beekeeping industry, simultaneous attention is required to be given to
different disciplines of biological sciences. For implementing extension, research, training and marketing
programmes, KVIC, State K.V.I. Boards, Beekeepers‟ Cooperatives, Departments of Forest, Agriculture,
Horticulture
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RURAL AGRICULTURAL WORK EXPERIENCE( RAWE)

CONCLUSION

RURAL; AGRICULTURAL WORK EXPERIENCE (RAWE),is an important project being required a

partial fulfillment of the degree course of BSc agriculture . I being a student of BSc agriculture VIIIth
semester got an opportunity to carry out this project in a proper guidance of the respected experts of the
particular field. The four topics selected by me :
MUSHROOM TRAINING AT KRISHIVAN, CBED, DHOOLKOT
SERICULTURE TRAINING AT R.S.R.S, SAHASPUR
SOCIO-ECONOMIC SURVEY UNDER SAHASPUR BLOCK, DEHRADUN AT
CHHARBA
APICULTURE TRAINING AT Ipoint ,PREMNAGAR
During the course of the project I got to know many things about various topics, a lot of information and
knowledge about the need for proper technology in agriculture , proper rural development,and allied sectors
like sericulture . participating in these projects was an out and out great learning experience and also it was
fun.

So I would like to conclude saying that RAWE is a very innovative & worthy approach towards a field
of practical learning and gaining knowledge about many new things which will surely become very
important in my near future.
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REFERENCES

1 MUSHROOM CULTIVATION
*www.vikaspedia.in
*advance mushroom production; Dr.Gopal Singh, Dr. Bijendra Singh
*www.tnau.com
*www.agriinfo.com

2 SERICULTURE
*www.agriinfo.com
*A text book of applied entomology by RP Srinivas & JS Dhaliwal
*sericulture technology by Dr. A Subramanian,TNAU
*An introduction to sericulture by M.Madan Mohan Rao

3 SOCIOECONOMIC SURVEY
*www.google.com
*google map
4 APICULTURE
*Apiculture in India by Atuar Rahman
*A text book of applied entomology by RP Srinivas & JS Dhaliwal
*www.agriinfo.com