Sinusoidal Magnetic Fields and Chawki (Silkworm) Rearing in Sericulture

Abstract

Effects of sinusoidal magnetic fields on chawki silkworm rearing have been studied. The experiment was conducted using a multi X Bi silkworm hybrid, PM x CSR 2. Disease-free layings were reared from hatching to cocooning and by subjecting first and second instar to three magnetic field frequencies: 0.1, 1.0, and 10 Hz at 1500 nT, pp, for six days at six hours per day. Controls were maintained simultaneously. Larval durations for both young-stage chawki (I and II) and late stage (III, IV, V) were calculated in days and hours, including the feeding and moulting periods for I to IV instars, and the feeding period for V instar up to the time of spinning. The study revealed that the magnetic exposures reduced both feeding and moulting times with no adverse effects on larval growth. The substantial reductions in time, 33 hours in instars I and II, and 64 hours in total larval duration, could be commercially important in chawki rearing, saving time, leaf consumption, and labor expenses.

Development of a food waste prevention strategy: a case study in a hotel in Eastern Morocco

“…It is important to satisfy the demand of the growing human population for food whilst also making sure that the impacts of food production on the environment are also taken into consideration because half of the world's habitable land is exploited for agriculture [1], which plays a role in transforming habitats [2,3] and can pose a threat to biodiversity [4]. Food production is also responsible for 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions [5] as well as excessive water use [6].…”

Reproducibility and desensitization of the power frequency magnetic field effect on movement of the common cutworm Spodoptera litura

“…However, very little information about the behavior of insects, a plausible experimental organism, under an ELF MF has been accumulated so far. A set of sinusoidal ELF MF (~10 Hz) exposure notably reduced the feeding and molting times of the silkworm Bombyx mori without adverse effects on larval growth, implying that the MF deregulated the normal behavior possibly through affecting the endocrine or nervous systems (Qadri et al 2006). An exposure of power frequency (50 Hz) sinusoidal MF (~70 mT) on comb-building oriental hornet workers Vespa orientalis deformed the size and symmetry of the comb markedly (Ishay et al 2007).…”