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

1. What is the market prospect of 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.

2. Will Ningxia’s silkworm breeding industry become a rising star in China?

Ningxia has abundant light and heat resources, a large temperature difference between day and night, and climate characteristics in summer and autumn, which are very suitable for mulberry planting and silkworm breeding. Since the trial planting and breeding began in 1992, Ningxia's mulberry silk industry has developed extremely rapidly, and ten major silk cocoon bases have been established in Jingyuan County, Hongsibao District, etc. By 2000, a silk reeling factory and 18 township sericulture technical service stations had been built, with a mulberry planting area of ​​2,000 hectares, an annual output of 2.8 million tons of fresh cocoons and 36 tons of raw silk, becoming a new industry for the development and revitalization of Ningxia's economy and a rising star in the country's silk cocoon production.

According to the conclusion of domestic experts on the sampling test of Ningxia silkworm cocoons: the silkworm cocoon relaxation rate, drying and folding rate, and silk reeling rate are all higher than those in Zhejiang and Sichuan old silkworm areas; silkworms can pull out 1,300 meters of raw silk in spring, summer and autumn. Such cocoon quality has not been found in the old silkworm areas in the south, and is also extremely rare abroad. The Tokushima Cocoon Quality Inspection Institute in Japan and the domestic cocoon quality inspection center have conducted follow-up tests and believe that using Ningxia silkworm cocoons to reel raw silk of the same weight can save 10% of raw materials.

While the prices of raw silk and fresh cocoons in China are generally rising, the price of Ningxia's high-quality silk is still promising. Foreign merchants come to the Ningxia Cocoon Station to bid for the fresh cocoons produced in Ningxia. Ningxia's cocoons are leading in 10 indicators in China, and the development prospects of mulberry silk breeding are promising. Many domestic and foreign merchants have reciprocated and joined the Ningxia sericulture industry. In 2004, Hangzhou Zhengri Chemicals cooperated with Ningxia and invested 100 million yuan to plant 20,000 hectares of mulberry trees for silk reeling.

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 is the prospect of growing silkworms?

Sericulture can be said to be the oldest breeding industry in my country, even earlier than many poultry breeding. There is a famous poem about silkworm breeders that I believe everyone must have an impression of, "Silkworm Woman", one of the lines "Those who are covered in silk and satin are not silkworm breeders", which tells the hardships of silkworm breeding. So is it profitable to grow mulberry and raise silkworms in 2018? What are the breeding prospects and profits? Mulberry silkworm cocoon breeding is divided into spring silkworms, late silkworms, and autumn silkworms. Autumn silkworms are divided into mid-autumn silkworms and late autumn silkworms. Spring silkworms have the best quality, followed by autumn silkworms. Breeding varieties include agricultural mulberry, etc. The growth cycle of mulberry silkworm cocoons is limited by the temperature. Spring silkworms are raised around April 20th every spring, with a growth cycle of 26-27 days. Summer felling begins around May 20th. After the mulberry trees grow new leaves again, silkworms are raised around June 25th, with a growth cycle of 24-25 days. Since the interval between mid-autumn silkworms and late autumn silkworms is short, they are afraid that poor disinfection will affect their growth and quality. Mid-autumn silkworms are generally not raised. Late autumn silkworms are generally raised around September 5th and end in early October. Due to the influence of temperature, environment, purchase price and other factors, some breeders choose to raise spring silkworms and autumn silkworms for two seasons, and some choose to raise three seasons of silkworms. Is raising silkworms profitable? Sericulture is an ancient breeding project in my country. Since the emperor's wife Leizu taught people to raise silkworms and reel silk, raising silkworms has been a job that most housewives in my country will do. The silk industry was the main export industry in ancient my country, which is not unrelated to the high prosperity of sericulture. However, with the advent of the era of machine industrialization, sericulture has gradually begun to decline. In recent years, most of the farmers who make money in the sericulture industry have strong economic strength and stable sales channels. Therefore, for ordinary working class people, it is not recommended to consider this industry. From the survey, it was learned that: a mulberry seedling costs 0.4 yuan, 1440 trees are planted in one acre of land, and the cycle is 7-8 years. The average annual investment in mulberry trees is 87.27 yuan/acre. The net profit per acre of mulberry silkworms is 7542.49 yuan, and the price of 50 kilograms of mulberry silkworms is 2817 yuan. The prospects and market analysis of sericulture Sericulture makes money from silk, silkworm pupae, moths, silkworm feces and its silk culture.

Silkworm, also known as domestic silkworm, or commonly known as silkworm, is a silk-spinning insect with high economic value. It feeds on mulberry leaves and its cocoons can be used to reel silk, which is a precious textile raw material, mainly used for weaving silk. It is an excellent textile raw material and is also widely used in military industry, electrical engineering, etc. Silkworm pupae, moths and silkworm feces can also be used comprehensively as raw materials for various chemical and pharmaceutical industries, and can also be used as nutrients for plants.

Silk culture has a long history of thousands of years. The ancient silk civilization is a treasure of the Chinese nation, a major contribution of China to the world, and a bond of friendship between China and the world. Silk is a friendly messenger. In history, brocade and silk were often used as high-end gifts to friendly countries to "turn hostility into friendship". Silk culture has an indelible influence on the progress of human civilization. "Jin" is a general term for colorful jacquard silk fabrics. Jin is a combination of "gold" and "silk", which means "weaving colors into patterns, and its price is like gold". Brocade has become a traditional Chinese silk fabric with complex weaving technology, elegant patterns and gorgeous colors.