Historical Background and Status of Sericulture Industry in Assam - A review

Author: Aparupa Borgohain and Debajit Borah

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Abstract

Assam is the leading producer of non mulberry silk which produces around two-thirds of India's total non mulberry silk production and so far as the production of muga silk. The rise in the annual production of non mulberry raw silk in Assam in last 10 years showing an increasing trend with several folds where as the mulberry sector in Assam is still in nascent condition with few tons of annual production. In Assam, most of the people lives in villages and has a diverse culture and tradition throughout the state. The sericulture sector holds enormous promise for the rural population in providing their livelihood in the state. The present study was undertaken to review the genesis and current status of the sericulture sector of Assam, because there is enormous scope for development of sericulture sector in the rural areas due to its high potentialities of raising income of people in Assam if scientific rearing of silkworm for commercial purpose can be considered seriously as a source of

Keywords

Eri, Muga, Mulberry, Production, Raw silk, Sericulture, Silkworm.

Conclusion

India is the only country in the world where all the four varieties of silk viz., mulberry, tassar, eri and muga are produced (Bharathi, 2016). India has tremendous potential for development of sericulture industry but yet unexploited, however, development is not far away (Dewangan et al., 2011). Assam has the most important advantage that the golden yellow coloured muga silk is produced only in Assam in the world. Nowadays the Assam silk industry is well established in the Indian silk sector and the growth scenario for the industry seem to be cheerful. There are some limitations such as small land holding for cultivation of host plant, lake of marketing network and insufficient supply of disease free seed act as a barrier for development of the sericulture sector in Assam. Research on additional technology and in the various aspects of sericulture with standardization of silk and silk products will positively expand the silk industry rapidly. Providing good quality seeds, imparting aw

References

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How to cite this article

Aparupa Borgohain and Debajit Borah (2022). Historical Background and Status of Sericulture Industry in Assam - A review. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 14(1): 1255-1257.