ROLE OF HORMONES IN SILKWORM FOR ENHANCING SILK PRODUCTION

Sericulture, which is an agro-based cottage industry in India, needs increased production of silk along with the raw silk. Insect growth regulators (IGRs) such as juvenile and moulting hormones or their analogs (juvenoids and ecdysoids) when used judiciously, have been found to be useful in sericulture industry. The ecdysone is known to influence the reproductive potential and silk producing potential of Bombyx mori L. Hormone like methoprene juvenile hormone (JH) analogue have long been utilized for the improvement of silk production in the silkworm Bombyx mori L. JH analogues or the mimics have been celebrated option for sericulturists can control silk gland function and indirectly cause an increase in silk production. In recent years, several technologies have been developed to improve the quality of silk production, labour saving devices linked with improvement in quality and saving the feed for the larvae through the effective use of hormones for better silk production.