Evaluation of different strains of mulberry silkworms /Bombyx mori L. / for their adaptability and silk yield in Ethiopia

Abstract

Mulberry silkworm, Bomyx mori L. is one of the silkworms under utilization in Ethiopia.
However, rearing of selected strains of this mulberry silkworm race that adapt to different
agro-ecologies is very essential for improving silk cocoon quality, yield and profitability. In
this experiment, four Kenyan (ICIPE) bivoltine races (Kenya-1, Kenya-3, Kenya-4 and
Kenya-5), two Korean bivoltine races (Korea-1 and Korea-3), two Vietnamese multivoltine
(Mult-yel and Mult-wh) mulberry silkworm strains were evaluated in different locations
(Melkassa, Alagae, Wondo-Genet and Jimma) which represent different agro-ecologies of
Ethiopia. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) in three
replications. Thus, different silkworm strains showed statistical significant silkworm
characteristic ranges in different locations which include egg hatchability (63.67% to
91.00%), larval duration (21.67days to 32.00 days), total life cycle duration (44.94 days to
79.67 days), single weight of larva (1.328 grams to 3.567 grams), effective rate of rearing
(56.22% to 92.0%), single cocoon weight (0.726 grams to 1.600 grams), single shell weight
(0.108 grams to 0.355 grams) and silk ratio (14.71 to 22.76%). However, a bivoltine
mulberry silkworm strain known by Kenya 1 (ICIPE1) have showed an outstanding
performance compared to other strains in all locations especially in cocoon parameters.
Therefore, it is recommended for future research and development efforts on mulberry
sericulture in Ethiopia.