MulChamber: An Incubation Chamber for Mulberry Cuttings

Abstract

Mulberry (Morus spp.), the sole food source for silkworms in sericulture, suffers critically low propagation success under conventional stem-cutting methods due to inadequate moisture control, necessitating an automated incubation solution. This study aimed to design and develop MulChamber, an automated incubation chamber system for mulberry cuttings, by determining optimal incubation thresholds, integrating sensors and an ESP32 microcontroller, evaluating the system's technical feasibility in terms of hardware and software, and identifying the number of days to bud break, bud break percentage, and infected cuttings. The MulChamber maintained relative humidity between 96.89% and 99.88% and temperature between 24.63°C and 31.76°C, achieving a bud break proportion of 45.67% compared to just 2.33% under the conventional sack method, with technical feasibility assessments yielding grand means of 4.52 and 4.70 for hardware and software respectively, both rated Excellent. Although a higher Fusarium spp. infection rate was observed, expert consultation confirmed that infected cuttings remain viable and capable of bud break. Ultimately, the MulChamber offers the Philippine sericulture industry a scalable, low-cost tool that dramatically improves mulberry propagation success, directly supporting silkworm production capacity and the livelihoods of farmers dependent on silk supply.