Prediction of Cocoon Shell Weight of Tasar (Antheraea mylitta Drury) Silkworm using LASSO Regression

Abstract

Tasar Silk is one of the four most important silk produced in India; the other variants being Mulberry, Muga and Eri silk. Uniform quality of tasar silk yarns is required during weaving. The quality of silk yarn depends on the quality of the cocoon accordingly the cocoons are sorted into different categories viz. A, B and C. The present system of grading of Tasar Cocoons is determined by the shell weight of the cocoon. Since the shell weight of the cocoon cannot be obtained without cutting the cocoon and removing the pupae rendering the cocoon unreelable is unrealistic and difficult for larger lots of cocoon. In this paper a study has been done to predict the shell weight of the cocoons of Tasar silkworm (Antheraea mylitta Drury) through LASSO Regression based on the other cocoon dimensions, that can provide an alternative option for sorting of the cocoons based on shell weight