Question

The rearing of silkworms for obtaining silk is known as
1. Apiculture
2. Sericulture
3. Horticultrue
4. Silviculture

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 2 : Sericulture

The correct answer is Sericulture.

• Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk.
• Although there are several commercial species of silkworms.
• Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied silkworm.
• Silk was believed to have first been produced in China as early as the Neolithic Period.

• Silk is a natural protein fibre, some forms of which can be woven into textiles.
• The protein fibre of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. 
• The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture).
• The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colours.