मूगा प्रौद्योगिकियाँ

Sixteen muga technologies released by the institute between 1994 and 2024, ordered by year of development. Unless otherwise indicated, seed material, appliances and training are supplied by CMER&TI, Lahdoigarh.

Muga technologies

#	Technology	Year	Brief description
1	Improved S-3 and S-6 morphotypes of som (Persea bombycina)	1994	Two selected som morphotypes — S-3 lanceolate (7.8 × 1.0 cm) and S-6 narrow ovate (6.4 × 1.8 cm) — with a potential leaf yield of 18 kg per plant, or 18–20 MT per hectare, and 98.8 % palatability. Moderately resistant to blight and less susceptible to leaf spot. Must be multiplied clonally; seedlings from open-pollinated seed do not breed true.
2	Leaf bud cutting — vegetative propagation of som	1994	Clonal propagation protocol giving 80 % rooting and 62–83 % survival, with 90 % post-transplantation survivability. Cuttings are raised in polybags of pure sand under shade at 80–90 % RH and 25–35 °C, then shifted to a 1:1:1 sand–soil–FYM medium after 50–60 days. Best season June to October; transplanting at 10–12 months.
3	Pruning technology — som	1996	Pollarding at 6 ft from ground level every five years, with pruning 45–60 days before rearing, to produce succulent chawki leaf and hold the canopy at a height manageable for predator nets. Not to be done in winter. B:C ratio 1.63:1.
4	Chawki rearing of muga silkworm	2004	Early-instar rearing on pruned chawki plots under nylon net, using young leaf only. Improves the health of young-age worms, reduces early-stage mortality and raises cocoon yield by 15–20 % over traditional practice.
5	Box-type bamboo mountage	2003	Reusable bamboo box of 2½ × 1½ × 1½ ft holding 500–600 mature larvae, with an inner nylon net for quick harvesting. Serviceable for five years against single use of the traditional jali, can be disinfected and re-used, and occupies 5.82 cft per 1,000 worms against 96 cft. Lower floss percentage and higher cocoon uniformity. B:C ratio 1.5:1.
6	Muga cocoon drying chamber	2005	Hot-air stifling and drying unit fired with locally available firewood and dry leaves, with a capacity of 8,000 cocoons per cycle. Needs no electricity, works in all seasons, suits remote areas, and gives better silk recovery and longer storage life than sun drying or smoke stifling.
7	Integrated management of stem borer	2007	Eco-friendly package combining botanicals (posotia, castor, neem, titabahak and dhatura), mechanical plastic wrapping of the main trunk and release of the egg parasitoid Trichogramma during oviposition. Controls infestation up to 80 %; plugging holes with 1.5 % nuvan controls incidence up to 95 %.
8	BANI — muga weft reeling machine	2008	Motor-cum-pedal operated single-basin machine of four-end capacity, operated by one person seated, producing zero-twist flat muga yarn for use as weft. Silk recovery 45–50 %, about 4 % above the bhir, with output of 120–140 g per day against 80–100 g conventionally. Also usable for mulberry cocoons. B:C ratio 1.3:1.
9	“Lahdoi” for control of muscardine disease	2009	Non-corrosive formulation applied at 1 g per litre of water to the food plant and soil seven days before brushing, and at 15-day intervals on the larvae until maturation. Prevents muscardine up to 70 % against 93–100 % mortality in untreated crops, and improves leaf quality. B:C ratio 3.5:1.
10	Biological control of uzi fly	2009	Release of the hyperparasitoids Exorista phillipinensis and Nesolynx thymus at least three months ahead of the crop. Eco-friendly and highly effective, raising cocoon yield by 30 % in the jarua and chauta crops. B:C ratio 2.03:1.
11	Muga Silk Plus — cocoon cooking chemical	2009	Water-soluble chemical formulation for a simple cocoon cooking process, raising silk recovery to 50–55 % against 40–48 % by the traditional method and improving the reeled yarn.
12	Organic manure based muga farming system	2010	Green manure (dhaincha) with FYM at 5 t/ha and vermicompost at 1 t/ha, giving 16.83 t leaf per hectare — on par with the recommended inorganic schedule of 100:50:50 kg NPK and 10 t FYM per hectare. Supplies 40–80 kg N/ha and 6–10 t biomass in 40–50 days while improving soil reaction and fertility. B:C ratio 1.60:1.
13	Intercropping in som plantation	2010	Shade-loving intercrops — ginger, turmeric, colocasia and chilli, with legumes for soil fertility — raised between host plants at all stages, generating 47–85 % additional income over sole cropping and suppressing weeds without affecting host plant growth or leaf yield.
14	ITK: early-stage rearing on dighloti (Litsea salicifolia)	2020	Brushing and rearing up to the third instar on dighloti plants of 6–10 ft height, with pre-brushing care a week ahead and dusting of bleaching powder and lime (1:9) at 200 g/m² two to three days before brushing. Yield rises to 74 cocoons per dfl at 66.8 % ERR against 63 cocoons at 57.6 % — a 17.5 % gain in productivity.
15	ITK: de-pairing of moths using smoke	2020	Paired moths are exposed to light and smoke from burning dry thatch grass for 5–7 minutes on the day after emergence; males detach on their own after about 30 minutes. Reduces mechanical de-pairing and injury to the female genitalia, raising average fecundity by 18.3 % and net return by 18 %.
16	Muga Super Cook — novel cooking formulation	2024	Reduces reeling breaks by 24–30 %, raises non-broken filament length by about 16 %, reelability by about 15 % and raw silk recovery by about 10 %, while cutting cooking time from 10–15 minutes to 3–5 minutes. The cooking liquor can be reused two to three times, and tensile strength and natural lustre are retained. Licensed to Aicheng Innovation Pvt. Ltd, Sivasagar.