Seasonal Performance of Bivoltine Hybrid Seed Production by Procuring Seed Cocoons from Local ASRs Against Seed Cocoons Procured from Southern SSPCs

International Journal of Current Science Research and Review ISSN: 2581-8341 Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 DOI: 10.47191/ijcsrr/V8-i12-57, Impact Factor: 8.048 IJCSRR @ 2025 www.ijcsrr.org 6467 *Corresponding Author: Dr. Amardev Singh Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 Available at: www.ijcsrr.org Page No. 6467-6473 Seasonal Performance of Bivoltine Hybrid Seed Production by Procuring Seed Cocoons from Local ASRs Against Seed Cocoons Procured from Southern SSPCs Amardev Singh*1, V.K. Harlapur2, Sanjay Kumar3 1Scientist-C & Incharge, Silkworm Seed Production Centre, NSSO, CSB, Udhampur. 2Scientist-D, NSSO, CSB, Bengaluru, Karnataka. 3Senior Technical Assistant, Silkworm Seed Production Centre, NSSO, CSB, Udhampur. ABSTRACT: The current study explores that the commercial silkworm seed production activities is not season specific in Udhampur district and the findings clearly reveal that the eggs recovery (65.83g/kg in FC1 and 67.64g/kg in FC2) was attained under self-generated seed cocoons from local ASRs and (53.50/kg in FC1 and 73.95/kg in FC2) eggs recovery was obtained from the seed cocoons procured from SSPC, Bangalore. Further, the cocoons dfls ratio over actual number of cocoons was found 2.56:1 in FC1 and 2.48:1 in FC2 under self-generated seed cocoons from local ASRs. KEY WORDS: Dfls, FC1, FC2, Grainage, Recovery. INTRODUCTION Production of quality hybrid silkworm seed is skillful task and scientific approach of cocoon selection and their processing under grainage system. The silkworm seed plays a vital role because being a cash crop the vitality and disease freeness of the silkworm seed is utmost importance. Production of silkworm seed is not only free from diseases, but having high heterosis. Since 1989, silkworm seeds have been produced by Silkworm Seed Production Centre at Udhampur has been the only silkworm seed production Centre in J&K fulfilling the demand of F1 silkworm seed of cocoon farmers. In addition, the centre has been supplementing the bivoltine single and double hybrid silkworm seed to northern sericulture states, this unit also conducts chawki rearing of P1 seed (Dfls) and supplied to Adopted Seed Rearers (ASRs) and generates P-1 quality seed cocoons through extension network for self utilization being operated in three different P1 seed zones viz., Suntha, Thill and Hartaryan of Udhampur district. SSPC, Udhampur has started grainage operations by procuring seed cocoons from south India marking a new beginning and proved that the seed production activities is not season specific, earlier SSPC produced silkworm seed in one crop only i.e., spring. Further, the great success of our BV seed production depends largely on the quality seed cocoons generated by the poorest of the poor Adopted Seed Rearers (ASRs) of Udhampur district under different batches during spring season. Silkworm seed quality refers to richness of layings, egg viability, hatching uniformity and more importantly good rearing performance of the progeny (Ullal and Narashimhanna, 1981) and it depends on management practices i.e., rearing temperature, humidity, nutrition and genotype of the breed (Smita et al., 2015). Fecundity and hatchability are the two main factors for the seed cocoon production (Thomas and Dale, 1997). Further, sericulture industry is measured by quantity of silkworm seed produced (Sanaha et al., 2016). Seed cocoon production is done in grainage or Silkworm Seed Production Centre is the place where large quantities of silkworm egg disease free layings (Dfls) are produced. Grainage is one of the essential parts of sericulture and silkworm seed is the backbone of the sericulture industry (Amardev and Munikrishnappa 2009; Munikrishnappa and Amardev 2009). Therefore the grainage operations directly reflect on survival rate, life span, growth, and quality of cocoon, etc. Hence, it is indispensable to conduct these grainage processes with utmost care and technique (Rahmathulla, 2012). Keeping in view, an investigation was carried out to assess the seasonal performance of bivoltine hybrid seed production by procuring seed cocoons from local ASRs against seed cocoons purchased from southern SSPCs. MATERIALS AND METHOD To assess the seasonal performance of hybrid seed production a total 1696 kg of P1 bivoltine seed cocoons of FC1 and FC2 were procured from P2 BSF Gavimata, 260 kg of P1 bivoltine seed cocoons of FC1 and FC2 procured form SSPC, Bangalore and International Journal of Current Science Research and Review ISSN: 2581-8341 Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 DOI: 10.47191/ijcsrr/V8-i12-57, Impact Factor: 8.048 IJCSRR @ 2025 www.ijcsrr.org 6468 *Corresponding Author: Dr. Amardev Singh Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 Available at: www.ijcsrr.org Page No. 6467-6473 3052.90 Kg P1 bivoltine seed cocoons of FC1, FC2, SH6 & NB4D2 procured from local Adopted Seed Rearers (ASRs). After receiving the seed cocoons were spread in a single layer and defective cocoons were sorted out. Thereafter cocoons were cuts open, male and female pupae separated out and placed in the trays @ 700 pupae per tray. Male and female were kept in separate rooms at 25°C and 75±5 RH. After 12 days of spinning, the emergence started. Paired the male of FC1 with FC2 and vice versa for preparing the double hybrids combinations and similar procedure was followed for the preparation of traditional hybrid SH6 and NB4D2. Depaired the moths after allowing for 03 hour mating. Placed the female moths in oviposition room for eggs laying by maintaining 25°C and 75±5 RH.& complete darkness. Male moths were kept in cold room at 7-9°C for their use in 2nd time. After completing 24 hour, the female moths were shifted to aestivation room 25°C and 75±5 RH. After 48 hour the female moths were filled for testing and sheet hanged for 10 days aestivation schedule. After 10 days, eggs were detached & washed and for loose eggs preparation. After drying the eggs were shifted to Cold Storage Plant (CSP) Dehradun for hibernation under 04/6/10 months schedule. The collected data on the economic parameters such as a pupation rate, average cocoons per kg, dfls obtained, total seed weight, cocoon dfls ratio over actual number of cocoons and egg recovery was calculated and the results are presented (Tables 1-5 & Fig. 1-4) RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Production of quality seed is a vital step which is the core purpose of a silkworm seed production centre and to achieve this task the quality of parental seed cocoons must be of high quality and in good health, and therefore the seed cocoons arriving at the grainages are subjected to rigid selection (Jolly, 1983; Singh and Saratchandra, 2004). In selection only sound and uniform cocoons conforming to the characteristics of the race of the parental stock are selected and defective and deformed, under and oversized cocoons, double, melted cocoons etc. are rejected. The results of the findings showed that a total of 825.500 kg in the case of FC1 and 870.500 Kg of FC2 seed cocoons were procured from P2 Gavimata to assess the grainage performance (Table-1), after assessing it was found that the highest seed recovery was found in lot 25 of FC2 (72.97g/kg) followed by lot 27 (65.32g/kg) and lot 30 (64.18g/kg) in FC1. The seasonal performance of the seed procured from Bangalore also depicted better seed recovery (73.95/kg) in FC1 with percentage increase over (8.95 %) (Fig-4). Further, the performance of seed cocoons generated through local ASRs also depicted remarkable performance in both double and single hybrid seed and the most significant parameter i.e., egg recovery g/kg of seed cocoons utilized was attained with seed recovery of 67.64g/kg in FC2 with percentage increases over (2.64%) and 63.46g/Kg in NB4D2 with percentage increase over (18.46%) (Fig-4). Table1. Seed cocoons procured from P2 BSF Gavimata October & November, 2025 Lot Race Cocoons Procured and its commutative effective Pupation rate Actual Numbers of Processed cocoons By Weight (Kg) By No's Av. cocoons per kg(By No's) Av. Pupation (%) By No's By Weight (Kg) Av. cocoons per kg(By No's) 24 FC1 244.4 153697 629 87 134618 220.133 611 25 FC2 289.0 180183 623 87 157178 260.228 604 26 FC1 227.1 142444 627 88 126116 202980 612 27 FC2 267.4 174061 651 85 148633 239.586 620 30 FC1 354.0 219589 620 91 200306 327.068 612 31 FC2 314.1 198217 631 89 177200 286.671 618 International Journal of Current Science Research and Review ISSN: 2581-8341 Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 DOI: 10.47191/ijcsrr/V8-i12-57, Impact Factor: 8.048 IJCSRR @ 2025 www.ijcsrr.org 6469 *Corresponding Author: Dr. Amardev Singh Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 Available at: www.ijcsrr.org Page No. 6467-6473 Fig 1. Seed recovery achieved by processing seed cocoons procured from P2 BSF Gavimata October & November, 2005. Table 2. Seed cocoons procured (FC1 & FC2) from P2 BSF Gavimta October & November, 2025 and its grainage performance assessment on pairs & dfls obtained, pairs % over actual number of procured cocoons (No), Dfls (%), Qty. of Produced Seed (Kg) & Cocoons Dfls ratio over actual No. of cocoons. Lot Race Dfls Obtained Dfls Obtained Pairs % over actual number of procured cocoons (No) Dfls (%) Qty. of Produced Seed (KGs) Cocoons Dfls ratio over actual No. of cocoons 24 FC1 50870 45900 33.09 29.86 13.77 3.34:1 25 FC2 71750 70300 39.82 39.01 21.09 2.56:1 26 FC1 42750 37800 30.02 26.54 12.096 3.76:1 27 FC2 57450 54600 33 31.36 17.472 3.18:1 30 FC1 74620 71000 33.99 32.34 22.72 3.09:1 31 FC2 66400 57500 29.01 33.5 18.4 3.44:1 FC1 FC2 FC1 FC2 FC1 FC2 24 25 26 27 30 31 Achieved seed recovery per Kg of processed seed cocoons 56.34 72.97 53.26 65.32 64.18 58.59 % increase (Seed recovery) 0 7.97 0 0.34 0 0 56.34 72.97 53.26 65.32 64.18 58.59 0 7.97 00.34 0 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Lot No International Journal of Current Science Research and Review ISSN: 2581-8341 Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 DOI: 10.47191/ijcsrr/V8-i12-57, Impact Factor: 8.048 IJCSRR @ 2025 www.ijcsrr.org 6470 *Corresponding Author: Dr. Amardev Singh Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 Available at: www.ijcsrr.org Page No. 6467-6473 Fig 2. Seed cocoons procured from SSPC, Bangalore October, 2025 Fig 4. Seed recovery achieved by processing seed cocoons procured from SSPC, Bangalore October, 2025. Table 3. Seed cocoons procured (FC1 & FC2) from SSPC Bangalore October, 2025 and its grainage performance assessment on pairs & dfls obtained, pairs % over actual number of procured cocoons (No), Dfls (%), Qty. of Produced Seed (Kg) & Cocoons Dfls ratio over actual No. of cocoons. Lot Pairs Obtained Dfls Obtained Pairs % over actual number of procured cocoons (No) Dfls (%) Qty. of Produced Seed (Kg) Cocoons Dfls ratio over actual No. of cocoons 28 23270 20900 33.00 29.64 6.688 3.37:1 29 31750 31200 42.14 41.41 9.984 2.41:1 125 70500 564 96 67625 121.846 555 135 75330 558 98 73845 133.294 554 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 By Weight (Kg) By No's Av. cocoons per kg(By No's) Av. Pupation (%) By No's By Weight (Kg) Av. cocoons per kg(By No's) Cocoons Procured and its commutative effective Pupation rate Actual Numbers of Processed cocoons FC1 FC2 53.5 0 73.95 8.95 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Achieved seed recovery per Kg of processed seed cocoons % increase (Seed recovery) FC1 FC2 International Journal of Current Science Research and Review ISSN: 2581-8341 Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 DOI: 10.47191/ijcsrr/V8-i12-57, Impact Factor: 8.048 IJCSRR @ 2025 www.ijcsrr.org 6471 *Corresponding Author: Dr. Amardev Singh Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 Available at: www.ijcsrr.org Page No. 6467-6473 Table 4. Seed cocoons procured (FC1 & FC2) from P2 BSF Gavimta November 2025 and its grainage performance assessment on pairs & dfls obtained, pairs % over actual number of procured cocoons (No), Dfls (%), Qty. of produced Seed (Kg) & cocoons Dfls ratio over actual No. of cocoons. Lot Pairs Obtained Dfls Obtained Pairs % over actual number of procured cocoons (No) Dfls (%) Qty. of Produced Seed (Kg) Cocoons Dfls ratio over actual No. of cocoons 30 74620 71000 33.99 32.34 22.72 3.09:1 31 66400 57500 29.01 33.5 18.4 3.44:1 Fig 3. Seed cocoons procured from local Adopted Seed Rearers (ASRs) associated with SSPC, Udhampur (April-May, 2005). 1344.80 758279 564 85 647195 1173.594 551 998.30 563219 564 87 491502 886.624 554 396.90 223616 563 87 193917 349.772 554 312.90 175491 561 87 153105 278.891 549 0.00 100000.00 200000.00 300000.00 400000.00 500000.00 600000.00 700000.00 800000.00 By Weight (Kg) By No's Av. cocoons per kg(By No's) Av. Pupation (%) By No's By Weight (Kg) Av. cocoons per kg(By No's) Cocoons Procured and its commutative effective Pupation rate Actual Numbers of Processed cocoons SH6 NB4D2 FC1 FC2 International Journal of Current Science Research and Review ISSN: 2581-8341 Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 DOI: 10.47191/ijcsrr/V8-i12-57, Impact Factor: 8.048 IJCSRR @ 2025 www.ijcsrr.org 6472 *Corresponding Author: Dr. Amardev Singh Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 Available at: www.ijcsrr.org Page No. 6467-6473 Fig 4. Seed recovery achieved by processing seed cocoons procured from local Adopted Seed Rearers (ASRs) associated with SSPC, Udhampur (April-May, 2005). Table 5. Seed cocoons procured (SH6, NB4D2, FC1 & FC2) from local Adopted Seed Rearers (ASRs) associated with SSPC, Udhampur (April-May, 2005). and its grainage performance assessment on pairs & dfls obtained, pairs % over actual number of procured cocoons (No), Dfls (%), Qty. of produced Seed (Kg) & cocoons Dfls ratio over actual No. of cocoons. Lots Pairs Obtained Dfls Obtained Pairs % over actual number of procured cocoons (No) Dfls (%) Qty. of Produced Seed (Kg) Cocoons Dfls ratio over actual No. of cocoons 1,6,7,8,15A,16A,17-A,21,23 270740 263200 35.7 34.71 78.96 2.88:1 2,5,11,12,18,22 216400 211200 38.42 37.49 63.36 2.66:1 3,10,14,20 89320 87100 39.94 38.95 26.13 2.56:1 4,9,13,19 72120 70550 41.09 40.2 21.165 2.48:1 CONCLUSION Seasons provide distinct environmental conditions, but the current study clearly revealed that, the silkworm seed production may be taken in any season by maintaining the required environmental conditions during silkworm seed production and present seasonal trails undertaken by SSPC, Udhampur confirmed that the seed production activities is not limited to season-specific in future. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author expressed sincere gratitude to Smt. H. S. Sarvamangala, Scientist-D and Head, Silkworm Seed Production Centre, Central Silk Board (CSB-NSSO), Bengaluru and Dr. Prashant Natikar, Silkworm Seed Production Centre, Central Silk Board (CSB-NSSO), Bengaluru and Dr. Likhith Gowda M, Scientist-B & Incharge, P2 BSF, Gavimata, (CSB-NSSO), Karnataka for supplying bivoltine seed cocoons of FCs races at SSPC, Central Silk Board (CSB-NSSO), Udhampur. 58.71 63.46 65.83 67.64 13.71 18.46 0.83 2.64 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 SH6 NB4D2 FC1 FC2 Achieved seed recovery per Kg of processed seed cocoons % increase (Seed recovery) International Journal of Current Science Research and Review ISSN: 2581-8341 Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 DOI: 10.47191/ijcsrr/V8-i12-57, Impact Factor: 8.048 IJCSRR @ 2025 www.ijcsrr.org 6473 *Corresponding Author: Dr. Amardev Singh Volume 08 Issue 12 December 2025 Available at: www.ijcsrr.org Page No. 6467-6473 REFERENCES 1. 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Saratchandra. 2004.Principles and techniques of silkworm seed production. Discovery Publishing House, New Delhi, India, p. 361. 7. Smita Shukla Gaurav, Surendra Prasad and Upadhyay V.B. 2015.Influence of Cocoon Refrigeration on the Reproductive Ability of Multivoltine Mulberry Silkworm (Bombyx mori L.) Academic Journal of Entomology 8 (4): 183-189. 8. Thomas, G. and Dale, D. 1997.Fecundity of mulberry refrigeration at various climates. Insect Environment, 3(3): 62-63. 9. Ullal, S.R. and Narashimhanna, M.N. 1981.Handbook of Practical Sericulture. Central Silk Board, Bangalore India, pp: 61-82. Cite this Article: Singh, A., Harlapur, V.K., Kumar, S. (2025). Seasonal Performance of Bivoltine Hybrid Seed Production by Procuring Seed Cocoons from Local ASRs Against Seed Cocoons Procured from Southern SSPCs. International Journal of Current Science Research and Review, 8(12), pp. 6467-6473. DOI: https://doi.org/10.47191/ijcsrr/V8-i12-57