Category: AGRICULTURE

Citrus Nursery – Part 1

Citrus Nursery Establishment and Management

Introduction

The demand for citrus plant material in the Cordilleras has boomed in the last 5 years. Because of this demand, some farmers who have started their small-scale nurseries have realized the economic potential of commercial citrus nursery. This realization has encouraged growers into expanding to commercial-scale nurseries without taking the necessary precautions. Reckless management will surely shorten the life of the nursery and may even result in big investment losses.

 

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Mulberry trees and silkworms

CLSU’s Mulberry trees and silkworms

The Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in Munoz, Neuva Ecija hs launched its own sericulture project.

Supervised by Filomena F. Campos, CLSU director of research, the project complements research being  undertaken by the Philippine Textile Research Institute and U.P. Los Banos. At CLSU, concentration is on mulberry production and silkworm culture. At UP Los Banos, the stress is on breeding work.

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Sericulture: Silk Production – part 2

 

Continuation…..

almost resist complete unwinding. Depending on sex and species, the cocoons measure from one to 1.5 inches long and 0.5 to one inch in diameter.

Harvested cocoons are sorted; all thin-shelled and unreelable ones are artificially heated overnight at 86 degrees centrigrade to kill the pupae.

A dried cocoon produces a light throbbing sound when shaken and weighs only half of the 2.5 gram weight of a fresh cocoon.

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Sericulture: Silk Production – part 1

Sericulture in the Philippines

By Loreto H. Matienzo, Jr. and Rizal A. Gatica

Silk, the cloth of royalty, represents luxury in textiles. But this “most beautiful of all fabrics” is spun by no human hand. Silk threads or filaments are produced by silkworms when they construct cocoons that encase their pupae – a stage in the metamorphosis of caterpillars into moths. Weaving enough silk cloth to make one dress would require unraveling 1,700 to 2,000 cocoons.

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