Sericulture
Also searched as: silk farming, silkworm rearing, Bombyx mori, mulberry silk, moriculture, cocoon production
Sericulture is the rearing of silkworms, chiefly the domesticated moth Bombyx mori fed on mulberry leaves, to produce cocoons for silk, from egg production through larval feeding to cocoon harvest.
In detail
The cycle begins with eggs from selected parent moths, hatched to coincide with fresh mulberry leaf growth. Larvae feed on mulberry (Morus species) for several weeks, growing enormously, and each then spins a cocoon from one continuous filament. For reeled silk, cocoons are stifled with heat or steam to kill the pupa before the moth emerges and breaks the filament, then dried, sorted and stored for reeling. A small share of the crop is allowed to emerge to supply eggs. Tussah, eri and muga silks come from other moth species and lie outside mulberry sericulture.
The science and numbers
Genomic and mitochondrial studies indicate B. mori was domesticated from the wild moth Bombyx mandarina roughly 5,000 years ago, probably from northern Chinese populations. Resequencing of 40 genomes found 354 protein-coding genes with selection signals, along with reduced polymorphism and increased homozygosity in domesticated lines. Domesticated adults do not fly and depend on human care. A female lays roughly 300 to 500 eggs. According to the FAO, cocoon filaments total about 600 to 1,500 m, of which about 80 percent is typically reelable, and automatic reeling works well with cocoons offering about 60 percent reelability, 1,000 m filament length and a 20 percent shell ratio.
A practical example
A cooperative plans its season. From the number of egg layings it expects, it estimates mulberry area, rearing trays and labor for the final larval stage, when leaf demand peaks. It sells fresh cocoons to a reeling unit that assesses quality, since shell ratio, filament length and reelability determine how much raw silk the cocoons will actually yield.
What to distinguish
Sericulture covers cocoon production, not reeling, throwing or weaving, which are separate trades. 'Peace silk' or 'ahimsa silk' labels describe letting moths emerge, which usually means the silk is spun rather than reeled; such claims are rarely independently verified, so ask for documentation. 'Mulberry silk' identifies species and host plant, not grade or quality.
Origins and history
Archaeological evidence places silk in China in the Neolithic; a cocoon recovered from a Yangshao-culture site in Shanxi province is dated to roughly 4000 to 3000 BCE. Silk production later spread well beyond China through trade and migration, becoming established across East, South and Central Asia and eventually Europe. The word sericulture joins a Latin-derived root for silk (sericum) with 'culture' in the sense of cultivation.
Related terms
Sources & further reading
- FAO: Silk reeling and testing manual, Chapter 3
- Molecular Biology and Evolution (PMC): Complete resequencing of 40 genomes reveals domestication events and genes in silkworm
- International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (ScienceDirect): Comparative mitochondrial genomes and the wild progenitor of Bombyx mori
- World History Encyclopedia: Silk in antiquity
Technical references reviewed 2026-09-22. Examples are illustrative. Industry organizations and manufacturers describe their own fields; their references are not independent product endorsements. Figures are approximate and depend on the stated test conditions.