As an Undergraduate teacherof Biological Sciences or Agricultural Sciences, you can use this set of computer-based tools to teach about the cultivation of mulberry plants as an important food source of the silkworm, Bombyx mori for the sericulture industry.
Mulberry is a deciduous tree belonging to the Moraceae family having traditional economic importance for the sustainability of the sericulture industry. This plant grows in various climatic ecosystems including the temperate and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Europe and USA.
This lesson plan will allow you to teach about the cultivation of the mulberry plant, the impact of climate change on its growth, and the quality and quantity of leaf production which will ultimately impact silkworm rearing and silk production. This lesson could thereby help in the understanding of the management and cultivation practices of mulberry. Climate change impacts such as increased level of CO₂ affect plant yield through photosynthesis and stomatal conductance but the beneficial impact of elevated CO₂ can be offset by other effects of climate change such as elevated temperature and altered patterns of precipitation.
This could help in teaching and developing better management practices for the sericulture industry as climate change may directly affect the mulberry plantation, soil, pest, and silkworms.
Thus, the use of this lesson plan allows you to integrate the teaching of a climate science topic with a core topic in Biological Sciences and Agricultural Sciences.
Teacher-contributed lesson plan by Dr. Rita Rath (Dyal Singh College), Dr. Neeraja Sood (Dyal Singh College), and Dr. Nisha Vashishta (Miranda House).
Want to know more about how to contribute? Contact us.
Questions
Use this Lesson Plan to help your students find answers to:
Define moriculture and which is the most important tree for the rearing of the silkworm, Bombyx mori?
What is the impact of temperature, humidity, photoperiod, CO₂ concentration, precipitation and other climatic factors on the mulberry plant?
Discuss moriculture and sustainability in the sericulture industry?
What are the challenges of the sericulture industry with special reference to moriculture in relation to climate change?
About Lesson Plan
Grade Level
Undergraduate
Discipline
Biological Sciences, Agricultural Sciences
Topic(s) in Discipline
Moriculture, Sericulture,
Mulberry, Mulberry Cultivation,
Silkworm, Plant Yield
Climate Topic
Climate and Agriculture; Climate and the Biosphere
Location
Global; Asia, India
Language(s)
English
Access
Online/offline
Approximate Time Required
1 hr 30 mins
Contents
VideoMicro-Lectures (15 min)
A video that discusses methods of mulberry cultivation.
Here is a step-by-step guide to using this lesson plan in the classroom/laboratory. We have suggested these steps as a possible plan of action. You may customize the lesson plan according to your preferences and requirements.
1
Introduce the topic using this video
This video titled, “Cultivation & harvesting of mulberry plants. Moriculture in brief. Subtopic of sericulture” by Prof Amol Jawale can be used to teach about the methods of cultivation of mulberry plants as the food source for silkworm larvae in the sericulture industry. This video shows the details of mulberry plantation techniques from soil preparation to planting, to care and management of plants and harvesting of leaves or branches for feeding the silkworm larvae
This reading titled, “Studies on the mode of plantation of mulberry for silkworm rearing” by S. Rajput, S. Chanotra, R. Gupta, M. Bashir, I.A. Dar, N. Dhar, J.S. Tara and R. Mohan can be used to discuss and evaluate the plantation methods and varieties of mulberry plants suitable as feed for growth and development of silkworm, Bombyx mori which ultimately influences the cocoon traits such as yield, weight, silk percentage, etc.
Demonstrate the connection to climate change using this reading
This reading titled, “Impact of climate change on sustainable sericulture development in India”by R.L. Ram, C. Maji, and B.D. Bindroo can be used to discuss the issues of climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases such as Co₂, methane and nitrous oxide impacting sustainable sericultural development. It can also be used to discuss the impact of climate change on the practice and economy of the sericulture industry and on soil health which affects mulberry plantation, mulberry diseases and pests.
The tools in this lesson plan will enable students to:
learn about moriculture
learn about the impact of climate change on mulberry cultivation
discuss the effect of climate change on mulberry cultivation and its implication on silk production and sericulture industry
Suggested questions/assignments for learning evaluation:
Define moriculture and which is the most important tree for the rearing of the silkworm, Bombyx mori?
What is the impact of temperature, humidity, photoperiod, CO₂ concentration, precipitation and other climatic factors on the mulberry plant?
Discuss moriculture and sustainability in the sericulture industry?
What are the challenges of the sericulture industry with special reference to moriculture in relation to climate change?
If you or your students would like to explore the topic further, these additional resources will be useful.
1.
Video (In Hindi); “Mulberry cultivation”
A video on mulberry plantation techniques and care and management of mulberry plants for providing good quality leaves for food of silkworm, Bombyx mori.
Reading; “Impact evaluation of development projects - A case study of the project “Development of Sericulture Activities in Punjab””
A reading that can be used to help students with conducting a survey, data collection and analysis to look for the economic impact on sericulture Industry due to climate change. This can be developed based on the article by S Mubin, M Ahmed, G Mubin, MA Majeed, Planning and Development Department PEF, Govt of Punjab and Lahore Leads University, Lahore.
Reading “Studies on the mode of plantation of mulberry for silkworm rearing”
By S. Rajput, S. Chanotra, R. Gupta, M. Bashir, I.A. Dar, N. Dhar, J.S. Tara and R. Mohan.University of Jammu and Regional Sericulture Research Station, Jammu, India
3.
Reading “Impact of climate change on sustainable sericulture development in India”
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
