Unit –III: Breeding of silkworm and management

Present status of silk worm breeding in India.

Silkworm breeding - scope and objectives; methods – line breeding, inbreeding, cross-breeding, outcrossing, mutation breeding. Selection methods and techniques, Advantages and disadvantages. Effect of inbreeding, Homozygosity,

Heterosis in silkworm: genetic and theoretical basis, Hybrid vigor, and its utilization in sericulture. Combining ability. Maintenance of races and strains, Management of genetic resources: Collection, conservation, characterization and evaluation of silkworm breeds and their maintenance.