CATDOLL : CATDOLL: Is there a future for silkworm breeding? (Is there a future for silkworm breeding? Zhihu)

1. What are the prospects and profits of mulberry planting and silkworm breeding in 2022?

The main products of silkworm breeding and selling are cocoons and silk, because the main products purchased in the market are processed products such as silk and silk. With the rapid development of the silk industry in recent years, the demand for silk and cocoons is steadily increasing, which also promotes the market profit space of silkworms. In fact, mulberry and silkworm breeding, one acre can breed 3 silkworm beds, and each large silkworm bed can bring 100 catties of silkworm cocoons. 3 silkworm beds can produce 300 catties of silkworm cocoons. According to the current market price of silkworm cocoons of 30 yuan/jin, the first batch can bring an income of 9,000 yuan, and the net profit income after deducting the cost is 4,200 yuan, which is only the income brought by breeding one batch. More than 6 batches can be bred in a year. According to 6 batches, the annual income of planting one acre of mulberry trees is 25,200 yuan. What if I plant three or four acres? Then, the annual income is 75,600 yuan to 100,800 yuan.

Judging from the profit analysis, this income is quite high. However, planting mulberry and raising silkworms only requires more investment in the early stage. After the second year, the investment will be much less and the profit will be higher. In general, planting mulberry and raising silkworms is easy to manage, the cost is only a few thousand yuan, and the breeding efficiency is quite good. It can be said to be an agricultural project worth promoting.

2. Is there a future for sericulture in rural areas?

Sericulture is a way for rural farmers to get rich. As long as it is carefully operated, it has a bright future.

3. Silkworm breeding has great prospects, so why doesn’t anyone do it?

The first reason is the high risk of silkworm breeding and market, which is mainly reflected in the market risk of breeding and fresh cocoons. To a certain extent, "silkworms" and "silkworm babies" are the best way to describe the delicateness of silkworms.

One is air poisoning. Silkworm breeding requires high air quality. If there is a strong odor in the air, the windows must be closed in time. A few years ago, there was a tobacco-curing township in my hometown. They also wanted to provide farmers with another channel to increase their income and guide the masses to plant mulberry trees and raise silkworms. However, since tobacco produces an odor during the curing period, it causes the death of silkworms. In the end, the gains did not outweigh the losses, and the masses were no longer interested in this industry, resulting in the destruction of mulberry trees.

The second is pesticide poisoning. In rural areas, pesticides are an indispensable means of production. If you are not careful, you spray the pesticide on mulberry leaves and pick them up to feed the silkworms, poisoning and death will occur. Or if you enter the silkworm room to feed the silkworms without changing clothes or washing your body after spraying pesticides, it will also cause pesticide poisoning and death.

The third is the outbreak of silkworm diseases. During the breeding process, the most common diseases are pus disease and stiffness disease. If the disinfection is not done well, they will break out when the silkworms are about to form cocoons, causing great losses, or even all the previous efforts were wasted, with no income at all.

The fourth is to store and sell. Since silk products are luxury goods, they are mainly exported and greatly affected by the market. Although there is a silk company in my hometown, it still cannot withstand the impact of the market. When the market is good, the benefits of sericulture are still good, but in most years, the market is still far from the expectations of the people. If you hoard and don't sell, silk cocoons are different from other traditional crops, such as rice and corn, which can be temporarily kept at home. Because it requires a strict process to kill the silkworm pupae and protect their internal quality. Therefore, when the price is low, you can only buy it with pain.

The second reason is that planting mulberry trees and raising silkworms requires a lot of effort. The sericulture industry is a labor-intensive industry, which requires both effort in raising the animals and effort in field management.

First, in the collection of mulberry leaves. Silkworms go through the stages of growth and development. During the young stage, they need a small amount of mulberry leaves. But when they grow up, their appetite increases dramatically. Regardless of whether it is cloudy or rainy, they have to go to the mulberry fields to pick mulberry leaves manually. However, they cannot pick too much and can only purchase them on a daily basis. This is because overnight fermented mulberry leaves are not good for the development of silkworms.

Second, in terms of feeding and management. During the feeding of silkworms, they need to be constantly disinfected and expanded. In order to ensure the health of the silkworms, the secretions of the silkworms, mulberry leaf residues, disinfectant residues, etc. must be cleaned up every day to provide the silkworms with a good development environment. No delay is allowed. Once the silkworms are delayed, they will not grow up due to density problems and will get sick.

The third is field management. The quality of mulberry leaves determines the quality of silk cocoons. In addition to daily spraying and fertilizing, mulberry trees also need to be disinfected with lime sulfur and branches cut every year. This is quite hard work and many young people cannot accept it.

The third reason is that there are now more employment opportunities. In the past, land income was the main source of family income in rural areas. Due to the lack of information and technology, our parents, who "faced the loess and back to the sky", spent the whole year tending crops in the countryside. In addition, cities at that time did not expand as fast as they do today, so the employment opportunities were much narrower. When I was a child, the most common things I saw were silkworm cocoons and silkworm feces. In our area, silkworms can be raised four times a year (spring silkworms, summer silkworms, autumn silkworms and late autumn silkworms). Everyone knows that children are not afraid of the squirming silkworms since they were young. Now, diversified social needs require a large number of people, and it is easier to find employment. More rural youth are no longer willing to work in this industry, causing a gap, and the reduction in practitioners is also reasonable.

4. What are the market prospects for silkworm breeding?

There is a silk reeling factory in my hometown, Guang'an, Sichuan, and I have relatives working there. I heard from them that the factory is extremely busy.

There are several large plots of mulberry trees in my hometown, which were rented out by farmers to others to plant mulberry trees and raise silkworms. I don’t know how much money I have made, but at least I haven’t made any losses so far. When I was a child, my family also raised silkworms, and silkworm pupae can be used as high-value snack foods.

The profit of raising silkworms alone is estimated to be limited. It is recommended to raise chickens under the forest while raising silkworms as a hedge. After all, raising chickens can also bring in income when raising silkworms is not profitable. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

In a nutshell, whether from the perspective of the market demand for silk products or the food value of silkworm pupae, sericulture is a promising career.

Of course, investing involves risks. Only by controlling the risks can you earn some money and have a better life.

5. What is the prospect of growing silkworms?

Sericulture is still profitable now. However, since it requires a lot of labor, the economic benefits are not very high, causing most people to remove mulberry trees and plant other cash crops. In addition, the lack of labor in rural areas has caused a sharp decline in production, and prices have naturally risen sharply. Among them, mulberry fruit can also be regarded as an emerging fruit with higher economic value.