Indian Sericulture Development

Present Situation, Issues and Target and Results

By: Ankita (005) Jyoti (017)

Indian Sericulture Development: An Overview

• Sericulture is both an art and science of raising silkworms for silk production.

• India is the second largest producer of raw silk after China

• Biggest consumer of raw silk and silk fabrics• Trends in international silk production suggests that

sericulture has better prospects for growth• India has a distinct advantage of practicing

sericulture all through the year, yielding a stream of about 4 – 6 crops as a result of its tropical climate.

• It is a farm-based, labor intensive and commercially attractive economic activity falling under the cottage and small-scale sector

• it requires low investment but, with potential for relatively higher returns.

• the domestic demand for silk, considering all varieties, is nearly 25,000 MTs

• being imported mainly from China• basically driven by multivoltine mulberry silk.

Issues Targeted:

• rural employment creation• creating new job opportunities• providing supplemental income.• checking migration • potentiality of the sector in national economy• rural development,• women empowerment • employment generation have been identified. • Mulberry Improvement• Mulberry Productivity• Mulberry Protection• Integrated Pest Management and Disease Control• Silkworm Improvement• Silkworm Productivity• Silkworm Protection• Silkworm Rearing Technology Innovation

Item Mulberry

sericulture Sugarcane

Total input

costs48,659 30,575

Gross returns 96,132 60,200

Net returns 47,476 29,625

Crop period 1 year 1 year

.

Results & Benefits• R&D efforts have been made to improve the quality of

multivoltine silk.• States of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Maharashtra,

West Bengal ,Assam and Andhra Pradesh are being encouraged for promoting sericulture

• About 85 % of the funds for S&T come directly or indirectly from the Government. Central Silk Board (CSB), Bangalore under the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India is the apex body for overall development of sericulture and silk industry in India.

• National level R&D Institutions, State Sericulture Research and Development Institutes, Universities, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, and other Private and International Research and Development Institutions are being set up to promote applied research and development of appropriate technology towards attaining higher quality and productivity levels of Indian silk.

India V/s China: Silk Exported

Strengths Weakness Opportunities Threats

Large production base, availability of skills, land and labour.

Gaps in technology transfer and extension support.

Generation of rural employment and reduction of migration to urban areas.

Falling international prices and heavy dumping from China at low prices.

Established infrastructure, availability of silkworm breeds / hybrids.

Inadequate market accessibility, poor linkage among different stake holders.

Liberalization policies of Govt. of India in line with WTO Agreements.

Unpredictability of China’s silk policies.

Low investment, short gestation period and higher returns.

De-centralized nature of the industry inhibits financial institute from extending financial support to the sector.

Reduction of production of silk even by traditional silk countries like Japan, USSR etc.

Inability of the silk industry to react and adopt to the changing needs in terms of quality both for the domestic and export markets.

Easily adoptable technologies and strong domestic demand-pull.

Lack of quality based pricing system in the market, frequent price fluctuations and large scale imports from China at low prices.

Garment exports are on a steady increase with huge employment opportunities.

Lack of awareness in the domestic market to respond to the demand-driven milieu.

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

China 61648 64567 68600 94600 102560

India 15857 17351 16319 15742 16500