Mechanisation in sericulture By A.Suresh.

Why mechanisation? The sericulture industry in india is highly labour intensive. In india over 65-70 % cost of cocoon production accounts for labour wages for different activities. Hence ,we should reduce labour dependency to reduce cost of cocoon.

MECHANISATION IN MULBERRY CULTIVATION

Land preparation: Tractor operated Mouldboard Disk plough Cultivators Harrows Prepared the land fast and less cast.

Mulberry cutting: Worker -1500-2000 cuttings/day. Machine-1400-1500 cuttings/hour. Developed by CSRTI,Mysore.

Intercultural operations: Power tiller Power weeder Tractor operated cultivators

Cost of intercultural operations in mulberry gardens Method of Operation Time/ Manpower Required Operation Cost (Rs./ha) Cost Reduction (%) Manual weeding 42-mandays 3,360.00 -- Bullock ploughing 80 h/ha bullock ploughing + 8 man-days/ha 2,560.00 30 Power tiller operated weeder in Paired row plantation 21 h/ha tiller ploughing + 40 h/ha Bullock ploughing 2,680.00 25 Tractor ploughing in Paired row plantation 5 h/ha tractor+ 40 h/ha Bullock ploughing 2,250.00 50 Tractor ploughing in 3M plantation 6.6 h/ha tractor 1,650.00 100

Spraying: Self propelled CSRTI sprayer TNAU power tiller mounted sprayer ASPEE tractor mounted sprayer Less time and uniform spray.

Cost of chemical application in mulberry gardens   Type of Sprayer Time required / hectare Spraying COST (RS./HA) COST REDUCTION thru Mechanization 1. Knapsack – Hand operated 12.5 Hrs 600.00 -- 2. Knapsack – Power operated 4.0 Hrs 175.00 250 3. TNAU power tiller sprayer 2.0 Hrs 300.00 100 4. CSRTI – self propelled sprayer 2.2 Hrs 150.00 300 5. ASPEE tractor mounted sprayer 0.6 Hrs 170.00 250  

Shoot Harvesting: Knapsack type bush cutters for mulberry shoot harvesting. It works well in paired row plantation and can harvest 1,000-1,200 kg shoots per hour. Mostly used in medium and large farms.

MECHANISATION IN SILKWORM REARING

Rearing house disinfection: Electricity and engine operated sprayer. Flame gun developed by CSRTI,Mysore. Highly cost and time effective tool

Leaf chopping: CSRTI leaf chopper-225-250 kg leaves/hour Different sizes for different age silkworms. Most useful for Chawki rearing centres-large scale young age rearing.

Silkworm separator: Separate 100 dfls(40,000-45,000 silkworms)/hour Avoid spinning of cocoons in bed Reduce the cost of manual picking

Deflossing of the cocoon: The outer layer of unreelable silk floss removed before reeling. Deflossing the cocoons at very fast rate &save labour charges. Marketing price will increase. Deflossers, CSRTI,Mysore. Hand operated deflossers-small rearer Motorised deflossers-medium &large rearer

Tray washing machine: Large no of plastic trays are to be washed in a Chawki Rearing Centre. Capasity-60-70 trays/hr.

Collapsible mountage pressing tool: Quick & proper folding & pressing of the plastic collapsible mountages. Developed by CSRTI,Mysore. Fast bundling of the plastic moundages.

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