Automatic Feeder for Sericulture

Abstract

Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Sericulture has become an important cottage industry in countries like Brazil, China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Russia. Today, China and India are the two main producers with more than 60% of the world's annual production. The major hurdle in this field is shortage of manpower. From the survey it is absorbed that the most time-consuming process in sericulture is feeding of worms with mulberry leaves. As the feeding system for sericulture is concerned, the technologies available in market are of no match to feed the worms efficiently. This project “Automatic -Feeder for Sericulture” aims to provide the solution for the existing problem. The project comprises a movable feeder box mounted over the line following Rover. Four axis movement of Rover and vibrating slider ensures the uniformity in spreading the leaves. This project is designed to feed the leaves automatically. The special design of the rover enables to feed the worms in their growth place (RACKS).