DRUDGERY REDUCTION IN TROPICAL TASAR SILKWORM ANTHERAEA MYLITTA D. SEED PRODUCTION.

Antheraea mylitta Drury (Lepidoptera : Saturnidae) is a commercially exploited vanya silkworm that is raised outdoors on host plants such as Asan and Arjun. Because tasar seed production includes rearing of silkworms for quality seed cocoons production to process them for Disease Free Layings (DFLs) production, it allows for mechanization at several stages of the process, including rearing and plantation management. The various drudgery reducing equipment's used presently are brush cutter, centrifuge, chain saw, cocoon transportation baskets, egg drying machine, electric sprayer, ladder, lime duster, microscopes, secateurs etc. The use of brush cutter for weeding, electric sprayer for spraying, chain saw for pollarding and lime duster for dusting significantly reduces the persondays requirement. Further, the egg dryer helps in quick drying of DFLs than in conventional method. Thereby, the mechanization is helping in increased efficiency of different activities in tasar seed production sector apart from drudgery reduction. The future interventions required in the seed production process are tasar cocoon sorter, tasar seed cocoon garlander, garlanding thread maker, degarlander, moth catcher, grainage house disinfection, disease scanner, pierced tasar cocoon grader etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]