Strong domestic market typically conducive to small producers.

 

One of the problems faced by the sericulture sector is water scarcity. Added to this, is the withdrawal of subsidy on fertilisers. There is a lack of reliable data about parameters like production, productivity and employment generation in the industry. According to a recent study the whole chain of soil to silk fabric is estimated to provide employment on a full-time basis to nearly 8 million people, with 54 per cent in pre-cocoon stage and about 28 per cent in handloom weaving. Power loom weaving, which has received a lot of support from the government in the last decade generates about 2 per cent of the total employment in the sericulture sector.
Over 80 per cent of the families involved in pre-cocoon activities are of small and marginal farmers with about 35 per cent to 40 per cent depending solely on rainfed sericulture. In reeling, nearly 60 per cent of the silk produced continues to be in the charaka section, which is the lowest in the rung, technically, socially and economically.
The agro-climatic regions in the three southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are clearly demarcated as coastal zone, transition zone, wet zone, semi-arid zone and dry zone. In these three states, semi-arid and dry zones account for about 70 per cent of the total cultivable area. Semi-arid regions are those that receive an annual rainfall of about 900 mm or less.
In the semi-arid regions, rainfed and irrigated sericulture practices are distinguished by the period for which water is available in a year. Rainfed areas are those that depend only on rainfall and / or are supported by open wells, which can provide water for about 6-7 months in a year.

On account of the strong drought-resistant character of mulberry and its ability to generate relatively attractive returns from marginal land, people in these semi-arid / dry zones predominantly practice mulberry sericulture.
Mulberry can grow almost in any type of soil, except in clay and in water logging conditions. The major benefit accruing from mulberry is the possibility of a livelihood through sericulture in the drought-prone areas where the quality of land is not suitable for alternative crops.
The water requirement indicated for mulberry in the table is under irrigated condition, for a full bloom crop yielding about 30,000 kg of leaf per acre per year. But mulberry survives even with one-third of this volume of water; under such conditions, on an average, sericulturists can hope for about 3 to 3.5 crops. Through better management of water, there is a scope to increase the number of crops per year as well as increase the yield of cocoons.
Most of the waste generated in the process of mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing is put to use. Left over leaves and tender shoots after each feeding of silkworms are fed to the cattle and the cattle’s manure is mixed with silkworm litter and...