New silkworm variety discovered<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA: A university researcher announced Tuesday the new
\ndiscovery of three silkmoths with a much higher value and
\nsuperior quality than the existing variety.<\/p>\n
Jesmandt Situmorang of Gadjah Mada University said during a
\nseminar that the three wild silkmoths, known more as harmful
\npests of fruits including kedondong, jambu mete (cashew),
\navocados and soursacks can produce more resilient silk fibers.<\/p>\n
Situmorang said they are 20 times the value of ordinary
\nsilkworms. \"These valuable silkworms are under attack from South
\nSulawesi residents, who find them a nuisance,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the wild silkworms, classified as Crucula
\ntrifenestrata, Attacua atlas and Antheraea sp, are found on
\ncertain islands of Indonesia and survive mainly in a tropical
\nclimate.<\/p>\n
President of the International Society for Wild Silkmoths
\nHiromu Akai said that Situmorang's findings feature superior
\ncharacteristics including the silk threads' natural golden color,
\nodorlessness and more porousness and the ability to wrinkle less
\nthan ordinary silk.<\/p>\n
The university's entomologist Hari Purwanto said at the
\nuniversity's Japanese Studies Center that the wild silkmoths can
\nonly be raised in a tropical country like Indonesia as they are
\naccustomed to eating the country's local fruits.<\/p>\n
Ordinary silkmoths are usually fed on mulberry leaves.<\/p>\n
The wife of Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, GKR Hemas voiced her
\nconcerns about a possible business monopoly on the new silkmoths,
\na move she believes would jeopardize the local people's
\ntraditional silk production business.<\/p>\n
Hemas, also coordinator of the Social Welfare Coordination
\nBoard, said the presence of domestic or foreign commercial
\ninterests would adversely affect the local people's efforts to
\nincrease their earnings.<\/p>\n
\"We have tried to make our country breed these silkmoths as
\nwell as produce and market the silk fabrics. We do not wish to
\nbecome a mere exporter of silk cocoons,\" she said, citing the
\ntraining of 12 people at the university on breeding techniques of
\nwild silkmoths.<\/p>\n
\"Frankly, this is the right moment to empower the socially and
\neconomically disadvantaged as many Japanese businessmen are so
\ninterested in Situmorang's findings that they claim them as their
\nown, not to mention the possibility of Jakarta businessmen
\nmonopolizing the business,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Much of Situmorang's findings were made possible by Kyoto-
\nbased Japanese company Jurako Ori which provided him with
\nresearch equipment including microscopes and centrifuge
\ninstruments.<\/p>\n
The silkmoths' cocoons will be exported to Japan, according to
\nGadjah Mada university.<\/p>\n
China controls 80 percent of the world's silk production, with
\nthe remaining 20 percent divided between Indonesia and
\nneighboring southeast Asian countries. (23\/01)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-silkworm-variety-discovered-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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