Eri grainage runs on a fixed twenty-day clock from spinning. Days lengthen in winter; use heaters, humidifiers or low-cost equivalents to hold optimum conditions rather than letting the schedule drift.
Day-wise grainage operations
| Days after spinning | Operation |
|---|---|
| Two days before procurement | Disinfection of grainage building and appliances |
| 7th day | Cocoon or pupal testing; purchase and transport of seed cocoons |
| 7th – 8th day | Sorting, receipt, weighing, spreading in trays and preservation |
| Daily | Maintenance of optimum temperature, humidity, light and darkness in the preservation room |
| 15th day onwards | Moth emergence |
| 16th day onwards | Pairing, depairing, oviposition; preservation of male moths after first pairing for reuse |
| 18th day onwards | Mother moth examination; egg washing and drying |
| 19th day onwards | Weighing and packing of eggs |
| 20th day onwards | Incubation and disposal of DFLs; preservation or transport of eggs |
Disinfect the building and equipment after every grainage cycle. Handle eggs only with clean hands; transport in muslin cloth or perforated boxes with proper aeration, using moist foam pads in hot dry weather.
Sheet-based loose egg production
Traditional kharika-based egg production is individual-moth based, labour-intensive, space-consuming, difficult to scale and gives unsynchronised hatching across three days of laying — the root cause of non-uniform rearing batches. CMER&TI has developed and validated a sheet-based alternative.
| Attribute | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Device | 2 × 3 ft sheet in a tray, replacing individual kharika |
| Optimum moth density | 150 moths per tray, without loss of egg recovery |
| Space in the oviposition room | Reduced fivefold |
| Moth placement time | Reduced threefold |
| Hatching | Synchronised at brushing |
| Output | More DFLs per unit area, with less manpower and easier handling |
The technology is ready for immediate adoption by commercial grainages and by farmers, and
is the enabling step for moving households from 5-DFL rearing to 50-DFL scale.
Work continues on mass mother moth examination, male moth preservation for reuse, and
standardised incubation and black-boxing.