Sericulture

Sericulture, also called silk farming, is the process of making silk fibers. It starts by raising silkworms and then processing the fibers they produce. Silk fibers are combined into silk thread. The thread can then be twisted into silk yarn or woven into silk cloth (fabric).

The stages of production are as follows:

1. The silk moth lays thousands of eggs.
2. The silk moth eggs hatch to form larvae or caterpillars, known as silkworms.
3. The larvae feed on mulberry leaves.
4. Having grown and moulted several times, the silkworm pushes out silk fibers to make a net to hold itself.
5. It swings its head from side to side in a figure '8' distributing the saliva that will form silk.
6. The silk solidifies when it contacts the air.
7. The silkworm spins approximately one mile of filament (fiber) and completely encloses itself in a cocoon. This takes about two or three days.
8. The whole cocoons are picked and boiled, killing the silkworm pupa.
9. The silk is obtained by brushing the undamaged cocoon to find the outside end of the filament.
10. The silk filaments are then wound on a reel.

The amount of usable quality silk in each cocoon is small. As a result, about 2500 silkworms are required to produce a pound of raw silk.^[1]

One cocoon contains approximately 1,000 yards of silk filament. The silk at the winding stage is known as "raw" silk. One thread is made up of as many as 48 individual silk filaments.

Ancient China began producing silk cloth by 3000 B.C., and was the only major producer of silk until medieval times, when sericulture spread across Asia and Europe.^[2] China and India produce the most silk in modern times, followed by Uzbekistan and Thailand.^[3]

Silk worm cocoons are boiled to separate the fibers. This kills the pupa inside, raising ethical concerns. In response, the process of making "peace silk" was created. This process allows the pupa to hatch as adult moths before the broken cocoons are boiled. However, the moths then suffer greatly in the commercial setting, discarded to starve to death after mating or killed by grinding to analyze their remains for disease insted of being cared for,^[4][5] and since the nervous system of animals breaks down in the cocoon stage,^[6][7] negating senses such as pain,^[8] there is far more suffering in the current "peace silk" process than in the regular silkmaking process.^[4][5][9]

• The History of Sericulture Archived 2009-09-27 at Archive-It, from the Smithsonian magazine
• Central Silk Board of India Archived 2017-11-06 at the Wayback Machine
• Silk Production Process
• Sericultural Research & Training Institute of Mysore, India Archived 2010-05-12 at the Wayback Machine
• Central Sericultural Germplasm Resources Centre Ministry of Textiles, Government of India Archived 2015-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
• Sericulture in the India Development Gateway
• Silkworm Life cycle (photos)
• Raising silkworms in your classroom, including photos
• "Livelihood - Hanging by a Thread"
• A bitter-sweet story