SEASONAL VARIATION IN THE DISEASES OF TROPICAL TASAR SILKWORM (ANTHERAEA MYLITTA D.) UNDER BASTAR PLATEAU OF CHHATTISGARH AND THEIR CONTROL MEASURES

Bastar plateau of Chhattisgarh is known for its tasar silk production. This biosphere has vast tracts of non-mulberry food plants such as Shorea robusta, Terminalia tomentosa and Terminalia arjuna. Local inhabitants particularly women are engaged in tasar silkworm rearing for obtaining additional income for their families but due to vagaries of nature, the productivity levels are very low. In order to identify specific reasons, a bench mark survey was conducted duripg 2003-04. The collected data indicated that bacterial incidence was 15.01% followed by virosis (12.08%), pebrine (10.58%) and other accounted for 7.07% at silkworm, moth and cocoon levels. The Effective rate of rearing(ERR) was 28.57 during 1st season (July-Aug.) and 17.11 % in the 2’ crop. Regional Tasar Research Station, Jagdalpur intervened and technical support as well as guidance provided to a group of farmers of Satlawand village. The farmers adopted integrated package which includes usage of nylon net for chawk rearing, application of Leaf surface microbes for control of virosis and dusting of disinfectant Resham Jyoti to control Bacteriosis. This technology enhanced the cocoon yield by 25••40.39% which helped in enhancing the income generation of the tribal farmers.