author(s)
Mir Nisar Ahmad, Shivkumar, Bharath Kumar Neelaboina and MK Ghosh

abstract
Success of silkworm breeding largely depends upon the initial selection of parents, their effective utilization in desirable combination followed by appropriate selection procedures. Silkworm breeders across the country contributed significantly to the development of many bivoltine breeds not only with improved economic parameters but also having suitability for variable climatic conditions. With this aim, the study was carried out to evaluate the performance of the nineteen bivoltine silkworm genotypes viz., Chaung Naung, Sanish-18(M), Pam 114, Pam 117, CSR2, CSR6, CSR26, CSR27, CSR47, S8, N5, SK-6, SK-7, B.Con-1, B.Con-4, Dun-6, Dun-22, APS-4 and APS-5 evolved/maintained by different breeding institutes of India. The evaluation of the selected genotypes was carried out for various traits during spring (May-June), summer (July-August) and autumn (August-September) season 2018 at Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute, Central Silk Board, Pampore, Kashmir. On the basis of the evaluation index values ranking, the high performing silkworm genotypes were identified for spring, summer and autumn seasons which will serve as breeding resource material for further identification of season-specific hybrids for Kashmir Division of J&K state. The study revealed that genotypes Pam 117, CSR 2 and CSR 27 performed better in all the three rearing seasons’ viz., spring, summer and autumn.