Smart Sericulture Farming: Transforming Traditional Silk Farming with an AIIoT Device
Introduction
Sericulture is a carefully managed agricultural activity in which the environment inside the silkworm rearing house plays an important role in healthy silkworm development and cocoon production. Temperature, relative humidity, ventilation, illumination and hygiene all need appropriate management. The Central Sericultural Research and Training Institute (CSRTI), Mysuru, notes that inadequate environmental conditions can adversely affect cocoon quality and yield, and recommends facilities that help maintain suitable micro-climatic conditions inside the rearing house.
In traditional farms, the farmer continuously observes the rearing environment and manually operates equipment such as exhaust fans, coolers, heaters and lighting. This practical experience remains essential, but continuous manual observation can be difficult, particularly when environmental conditions change during the day or when multiple areas of a rearing house need to be monitored.
Why Environmental Monitoring Matters
Silkworm requirements change with their growth stage. CSRTI guidance gives different temperature and relative humidity ranges for different instars.
Instar: each stage of a silkworm’s growth between two moults (shedding of skin).
For example, the first and second instars are generally maintained at around 27–28 °C and 85–90% relative humidity, while later instars require progressively lower temperature and humidity. The exact target should therefore be selected according to the silkworm stage, breed, local conditions and expert farm practice, rather than applying one fixed value to every crop.
Silkworm growth stage | Temperature | Relative humidity |
Instar I | 27–28 °C | 85–90% |
Instar II | 27–28 °C | 85–90% |
Instar III | 26–27 °C | 75–80% |
Instar IV | 25–26 °C | 70–75% |
Instar V | 25–26 °C | 70–75% |
These values are reference guidance from CSRTI and should not be treated as universal automatic-control settings for every farm.
From Manual Monitoring to Smart Monitoring
A smart sericulture system adds a continuous measurement layer to the farmer’s existing management practices. Sensors placed at suitable locations measure environmental parameters at regular intervals. The controller processes these readings, compares them with configured thresholds, records the information and can operate connected appliances when automation is enabled.
Key Sensors and What They Provide
Temperature sensor: Provides continuous temperature information and supports configured heating, cooling or ventilation decisions.
Relative humidity sensor: Tracks moisture conditions and can support humidifier or ventilation control when configured.
Methane / air-quality sensor: may be included as an additional monitoring parameter where the farm or product requirement justifies it. It should not be presented as a universally established critical silkworm parameter without field validation. It can provide additional information about ventilation and indoor air conditioning, especially where airflow is a concern.
Multi-zone RS485 sensors: allow measurements from several locations in a larger rearing house, helping identify differences between zones and control appliances.
Ventilation and Air Quality
Ventilation is an important part of rearing-house management. CSRTI guidance explains that poor ventilation can lead to humidity build-up and accumulation of gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and ammonia, which can adversely affect silkworm growth and increase susceptibility to disease.
The objective of an AIIoT system is therefore not simply to measure a gas value, but to provide useful information that helps the farmer identify conditions requiring attention and manage ventilation appropriately.
Appliance Automation
The WGTech AIIoT controller monitors environmental conditions and operates connected appliances through relay outputs, based on configured control limits and schedules. Typical appliances in a silkworm rearing house include:
Exhaust fan: provides ventilation by circulating fresh air and helping remove excess humidity and accumulated gases.
Humidifier / cooling pad: helps increase humidity when relative humidity falls below the configured range. Depending on farm design and local practice, this may be a humidifier or a cooling-pad system.
Cooler / heater: helps maintain the required temperature by cooling or heating when temperature moves outside the configured range.
Lighting: scheduled ON/OFF control of rearing-house lights, mainly for operational convenience and energy management. It is an optional supporting feature, not a primary environmental-control parameter.
Temperature, humidity, ventilation and air quality are the primary parameters for rearing-house monitoring. Operating limits and control logic can be configured according to the silkworm growth stage and farm conditions.
Environmental condition | Configured action |
Temperature above the configured maximum | Activate the cooling system and/or ventilation |
Temperature below the configured minimum | Activate the heater |
Relative humidity below the configured minimum | Activate the humidifier or cooling-pad system, where applicable |
Relative humidity above the configured maximum | Activate ventilation/exhaust, according to the configured control logic |
Scheduled lighting period | Turn lighting ON/OFF according to the configured schedule |
Multi-Zone Monitoring with Centralized Control
A single sensor may not adequately represent conditions across a large or multi-level rearing house. In such installations, multiple RS485-connected sensors can be deployed at different locations and assigned to individual monitoring zones.
The WGT AIIoT controller collects temperature, humidity and other supported sensor readings from each zone. The dashboard displays zone-wise measurements, so the farmer can see variations across the rearing house.
When multiple zones share one rearing environment, the controller uses valid zone data to determine the overall condition according to the configured control logic. That condition controls the shared appliances for the entire rearing house: exhaust fan, cooling pad, heater and light.
In this configuration:
Sensors monitor environmental conditions in each zone.
The dashboard displays individual zone-wise sensor values.
The controller aggregates the applicable readings according to the configured control logic.
The resulting condition drives the four relay outputs for the entire rearing house.
If the rearing house is divided into physically independent zones, each with its own appliances and control system, each zone can be controlled separately. A single controller then does not need to aggregate zones; individual controllers and sensors can be deployed per zone as required.
Remote Monitoring Through AIIoT
The controller sends selected sensor and appliance information to a cloud service through network connectivity. A web dashboard presents the latest readings, relay status, configured thresholds and historical trends, so the farmer or supervisor can check the rearing house without being beside the controller.
What the Farmer Can See
Current temperature and relative humidity
Zone-wise sensor readings
Appliance ON/OFF status
Configured minimum and maximum thresholds
Historical environmental trends
Sensor communication or fault status
Connectivity and device status
Automatic alerts for prolonged abnormal conditions
How Smart Sericulture Supports the Farmer
The purpose of automation is to support, rather than replace, the farmer’s experience. A smart system can reduce repeated manual checking, make environmental changes easier to spot, keep a record of past conditions and help operate connected equipment on time.
The farmer remains responsible for decisions such as rearing practices, feeding, hygiene, disease management and the choice of environmental targets.
A Practical Approach for a Demonstration Product
For an initial field demonstration, the most defensible core feature set is continuous temperature and humidity monitoring, ventilation and appliance status, configurable thresholds, a local display and a web dashboard. Additional gas sensors can be evaluated with the farmer or a sericulture expert before they are used for automatic control. Methane/air-quality monitoring should be presented as an additional parameter under evaluation unless a field requirement or expert recommendation establishes a direct need.
Conclusion
Smart sericulture combines the farmer’s practical knowledge with continuous sensing, connectivity and configurable automation. By monitoring temperature, humidity and ventilation-related conditions, and by showing clearly what each appliance is doing, an AIIoT system makes the rearing environment easier to observe and manage. Its long-term value should be established through field trials, farmer feedback and sericulture-expert validation, not through technology alone.
References
Nandhini M
Embedded Edge AI Engineer
WG Tech Solutions Pvt Ltd
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