New Delhi: The government has initiated field trials of transgenic silkworms that are resistant to diseases and may help boost overall production of silk in the country.

Multi-locational field trails of transgenic silkworms have been initiated in “contained facilities” after the approval of Review Committee of Genetic Manipulation (RCGM) at four locations.

The trials are being conducted at Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute (CSR & TI) branches in Mysore, Berhampore and Pampore, and Andhra Pradesh State Sericulture Research and Development Institute (APSSRDI), Hindupur.

A transgenic animal is one that carries a foreign gene that has been deliberately inserted into its genome.

“This is for the first time that the RCGM has given permission to conduct field trials on any animal or insect,” Mohammad Aslam, a senior scientist and adviser to the Department of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said.

He said Indian silkworms have resistance to fight diseases. Silkworms from China and Japan have the capacity to produce good quality silk, but when introduced to the tropical climate of India, they tend to succumb to diseases.

Of late, there has been significant improvement in the production of bivoltine silk in the country. However, the rearing of bivoltine silkworm hybrids is not possible throughout the year, leading to dependence on inferior crossbred hybrids, especially during adverse climatic conditions (March-August). During this period, there is crop loss to the extent of 30-40 per cent due to the BmNPV virus.

In the past, scientists tried to crossbreed Indian and Chinese worms, but the success rate was around 50-60 per cent, Aslam added.

“This crucial factor prompted the research group of Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, and Andhra Pradesh State Sericultural Research and Development Institute, Hindupur, to develop transgenic silkworms resistant to BmNPV, which can be reared by the farming community throughout the year.

“With the introduction of transgenic silkworm hybrids, apart from the resistance in the hybrid, the quality parameters, with reference to silk grade, will improve as compared to the present commercial hybrids.

“Based on the series of trials conducted at lab level, it was observed that the transgenic silkworm hybrids once introduced at commercial level will be a boon to the sericulturists,” Aslam said.

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, the funding agency of this project under CRS scheme, — a PSU of Department of Biotechnology under the Ministry of Science and Technology — has already released the grant to all the implementing institutions.

Asia is the main producer of silk in the world and contributes more than 95 per cent to global output. Although there are more than 40 countries that produce silk, the bulk of it is produced in China and India, followed by Japan, Brazil and Korea. China is the leading supplier of silk to the world.

India is the second-largest producer of silk and accounts for nearly 18 per cent of global raw silk production.