Muga is planned in six named crops through the year. Two are commercial, two are seed crops and two are pre-seed. The pruning columns matter as much as the brushing date — leaf of the right age has to be ready when the worms are, which means the pruning decision is taken two to four months before the crop.
The year as a wheel
Drag to turn the wheel, or use the arrow keys; hovering pauses it. Reading the year round rather than down a column makes the alternation visible: a pre-seed crop feeds a seed crop, which feeds a commercial crop, twice over. A failure in Jarua — the crop most exposed to muscardine — is therefore felt two crops later in Jethua.
The six crops
| Crop | Season | Category | Brushing | Larval period | Prune: early age | Prune: late age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jarua | Dec – Jan | Pre-seed | 3rd wk Dec | 50 – 55 d | 1st wk Sept | 1st wk Aug |
| Chotua | Feb – Mar | Seed | 2nd wk Feb | 40 – 45 d | 1st–2nd wk Oct | 1st–2nd wk Sept |
| Jethua | Apr – May | Commercial | 3rd wk Apr | 24 – 30 d | 1st wk Dec | 1st wk Nov |
| Aherua | Jun – Jul | Pre-seed | 4th wk Jun | 22 – 28 d | 1st wk Mar | 1st wk Feb |
| Bhodia | Aug – Sep | Seed | 2nd wk Aug | 25 – 31 d | 1st wk Apr | 1st wk Mar |
| Kotia | Oct – Nov | Commercial | 1st wk Oct | 26 – 32 d | 1st–2nd wk Jul | 1st–2nd wk Jun |
Cocoon quality by crop
| Crop season | Cocoon wt. (g) | Shell wt. (g) | SR (%) | Filament length (m) | Denier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb – Mar (Chotua) | 5.00 | 0.40 | 8.00 | 275 | 5.00 |
| Apr – May (Jethua) | 7.00 | 0.60 | 8.77 | 425 | 5.80 |
| Jun – Jul (Aherua) | 6.00 | 0.50 | 8.33 | 325 | 5.40 |
| Aug – Sep (Bhodia) | 5.50 | 0.43 | 8.18 | 300 | 5.20 |
| Oct – Nov (Kotia) | 8.00 | 0.70 | 8.75 | 450 | 6.00 |
| Dec – Jan (Jarua) | 6.50 | 0.55 | 8.46 | 350 | 5.60 |
Kotia gives the heaviest cocoon and longest filament of the year; Chotua, the spring seed crop, the lightest and shortest.