Studies on Egg Production Index in Some Newly Evolved Multivoltine Breeds of the Silkworm, Bombyx mori L

To know the impact of female pupal weight corresponding to the male cocoon shell weight upon fecundity, hatchability and percentage of non-viable eggs, the experimental multivoltine breeds namely BL67 and 96A were categorised into low, medium and high batches according to the weight of female pupae and male cocoon shells and moths emerged from low, medium and high female pupae were allowed to mate withmoths emerged from low, medium and high male cocoon shells. Both the experimental breeds of BL67 and 96A revealed a fairl trend in fecundity for high batch ＞ medium batch ＞ low batch. When data were statistically analysed, a significant (p ＜ 0.05) and a highly significant (p ＜ 0.01) increase in fecundity was observed in the medium and high batches of BL67 during November - December, 2002 whereas highly significant (p ＜ 0.01) increase was observed in the high batches of 96A during November - December, 2002. Data revealed a highly significant (p ＜ 0.01) increase in fecundity in medium and high batches of both the breeds during January - February, 2003. More interestingly, a significant (p ＜ 0.05) reduction was noted in percentage of non-viable eggs in high batches of 96A during January - February, 2003. But no significant variation in hatchability was noticed due to the effect of differential female pupal weight and male cocoon shell weight.