Bioassay studies of silkworm races feeding on leaves of mulberry mini clonal hedge garden of (Morus sinensis)

Studies on suitability of mini clonal shoots of Morus sinensis on rearing performance of different silkworm races viz., Pure mysore, Nistari and Tamilnadu white, CSR2, CSR4 and CSR8 up to chawki stages and the experiment was carried out at Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam, Tamil Nadu. Mini shoots obtained from mother plants of M. sinensis were fed to three multivoltine races viz., (PM, Nistari and TN white) and three bivoltine races viz., (CSR2, CSR4 and CSR8). Observations on hatching percentage, survival percentage, larval weight and larval duration were recorded and compared with control (double hybrid) fed with V1 variety. All silkworm races registered significantly lower larval weight compared to control (138.53 mg) fed with V1 variety and larval duration was also observed to be longer than usual period of development. From the result it was concluded that, the leaves of mini shoots are not suitable for chawki rearing.