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Pearl is a natural gem and is produced by a mollusc.While the demand of pearls in Indian and elsewhere is increasing,their
supplies from nature have reduced due to over exploitation and pollution.India is importing a large amount of cultured pearls
every year from international market to meet the domestic demand.The Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture,Bhubaneswar
has developed the technology of freshwater Pearl Culture from common freshwater mussles,which are widely
distributed in freshwather habitats throughout the country.
In
nature,a pearl is formed when a foreign praticle viz,piece of sand , insects, etc.by chance entres
into body of mussel and can not reject that out and insted makes a shine coating on the particle layer by laye.This simple
phenomenon is being.
Desited pearl Exploirted in pearl culture parctices.
The pearl is similar to the inner shining layer of shell called 'mother
of pearl layer' or nacre, constituted by calcium carbonate, organic matrix and water. the
pearls available in the market could be artifical or imitation perals are not pearls but pearl-like materials
that simple contain a rigid, round core or base and outer peraly coating . in natural pearls the core or nucleus in
minuts with thick pearl nacre. Generally, a natural pearl is small in size and irregular in shape. A
cultured pearl is also natural pearl, the only different being the humman inervention
in surgical implanatrion of a live mantle graft and nucleus for hastening peral formationto to the desired
viz,Lamellidents marginalis,L. corrianus and Parreysia corrugata found to produce good quality pearls.
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Silpolin lined spring fed pound of Shri. Mathachanen,Malakkallu
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Culture practices
Farming practice of the freshwater pearl culture operation
invoves 10 major steps seqentially viz, hatchery production,
'mother oyster' culture collection of mussels of mussels,pre-oprection conditioning,surgery, post-operation care,
pond culture and harvesting,processing and markting of pearls.
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