Preamble

What is Silk and Sericulture?

Silk which spells luxury, elegance and sophistication has been traditionally intermingled with the life and culture of Indians. It is a continuous filament consisting of two types of protein i.e. Sericin & Fibroin, secreted from the silk glands of a matured Silk worm Larva. Sericulture, an agro-based cottage industry, deals with the production of silk. The word Sericulture has been derived from a combination of Latin word Sericum meaning Silk and French word culture meaning Cultivation. It consists of 3 (three) distinct categories of activities:

     i)      Cultivation & Maintenance of Silk worm Host Plant.

    ii)      Rearing of silk worm for production of cocoons

   iii)     Extraction of silk yarn from cocoons i.e. Silk Reeling and other Post Cocoon activities like spinning, twisting, weaving, processing, printing etc.

 

 Sericulture in West Bengal:

Sericulture, an Agro-based Cottage Industry, is a traditional rural avocation inWest Bengalproviding employment and livelihood to more than 1 Lakh families who predominantly dwell in rural and semi urban areas. Sericulture is also an activity where more than 60% of the work force is women and consequently a large population of womenfolk reaps the benefit of various developmental Schemes. The immense potentiality of Sericulture in reconstructing rural economy and its labour intensive nature necessitated creation of a separate Directorate under Cottage & Small Scale Industries Department way back in the year 1975.

 

The Directorate:

However, keeping conformity with the structure of the Union Government, the Govt. of West Bengal later in the year 2009 set up the Directorate of Textiles headed by the Commissioner of Textiles under the Department of Micro & Small Scale Enterprises & Textiles (erstwhile Cottage & Small Scale Industries Department). Under this Directorate, the erstwhile Directorates of (i) Sericulture & (ii) Handloom & Textiles have been put in the name of (i) Sericulture Division and (ii) Handloom & Silk Weaving Division and another new Division has been created viz. (iii) Readymade Garments, Hosiery and Powerloom Division

The Directorate of Textiles (Sericulture Div.), housed at 45,Ganesh Chandra Avenue, Kolkata-700013 is headed by the Director who usually comes from Indian Administrative Service. He is assisted by the Additional Director of Textiles (Sericulture) and other Technical Officers in Kolkata and in different Districts of the State.  

There are 62 Basic Seed Farms, 16 Egg Production Centres (Grainages) & 59 Technical Service Centers throughout the state under Directorate of Textiles (Sericulture Division)) to serve the Sericulturists. 

 

Types of Silk:

It is note worthy that all the 4 (four) commercially exploited varieties of Silk i.e. Mulberry, Tasar, Eri and Muga are being produced in the State of which Mulberry and Eri Silkworm are domestic (reared indoor) and Tasar and Muga are wild (Silkworms are reared outdoor on trees). Each of the silk worm species feeds on leaves of specific food plant as indicated below:

 

 

 

 

 

Why Sericulture:

• Agro-based Labour Intensive Cottage Industry with Low Capital Investment & Higher Returns
• Small Gestation Period, 4-5 Crops can be taken in a year
• Can be grown on all types of Soil including waste lands
• Eco-friendly venture with immense utility in afforestation of land and Anti-soil Erosion Programme
• Silk being a highly valued Textile material, provides higher flow of income from rich to poor
• Sericulture keeps Rural Population employed in villages and thus checks their migration to town
• Involvement of more than 60% work force from women-folk
• Source of earning Foreign Exchequers

 

Role of Womenfolk in Sericulture:

Sericulture has got some characteristic features which make it an ideal avocation for women. Firstly, it involves mostly indoor activities with less manual labour and with flexible hours of work that can be adjusted with house work. Secondly, silkworm rearing needs motherly care and instinct while reeling and spinning activities need nimble fingers. Besides, sericulture provides additional income to help run the family. In fact, women contribute about 60% of the work force engaged in sericulture.

 

SWOT Analysis of Sericulture Industry inWest Bengal

Strength & Opportunities:

1.   Long legacy of silk worm rearing in the state with impeccable skill and expertise of silk worm rearers

2.   Leaf productivity is above national average because of fertile Gangetic alluvial soil

3.   Presence of a strong domestic market because of the affordable price of the finished products

4.   Scope for product diversification and design development, particularly in non-mulberry sector

Weakness & Threat:

1.   Lack of region/ season specific silk worm race suitable for West Bengal condition

2.   Small land holding and poor socio-economic condition of the beneficiaries

3.   Extreme climatic condition

4.   Post cocoon sector i.e. silk reeling, spinning is under developed

5.   Ill developed power loom sector

6.   Stiff competition with smuggled Chinese silk  

 

 

Activities of Directorate of Textiles (Sericulture Div):

Other Development Scheme (ODS) under State Plan:

The Directorate of Textiles (Sericulture) acts as a facilitator for overall development of Sericulture in the State. Besides some ongoing normal routine Schemes; the Directorate of Textiles (Sericulture Div) has undertaken a bunch of need based and beneficiary oriented tailor made Special Schemes and Schemes in Social sector under Other Development Scheme (ODS) during the year 2010-11. The essence of all these Schemes under implementation is narrated below in a nutshell:

• Input/Equipment support to both new/existing Sericulturists
• Support to Sericulturists & LSPs for Construction of ideal Rearing & Grainage buildings
• Mass Disinfection at farmers doorstep through SHGs
• Supply of high yielding planting materials and silk worm seed at subsidized rates
• Organizing various training programme & exposure visits and providing marketing & institutional support
• Crop Insurance /Health Insurance support to stake holders
• Assistance in the Post Cocoon Sector through supply of improved Reeling machine
• Assistance in the Post Cocoon Sector through motorization of Charkha for dissuasion of child labour

          In addition, the Directorate of Textiles (Sericulture) in collaboration with the Central Silk Board (CSB), under Ministry of Textiles, Government of India implemented Catalytic Development Programme (CDP) under which a bunch of schemes in 14 Clusters across the State were undertaken for development of all types of Silk for which CSB released ` 760.98 Lakh for the year 2010-11 for our State. The corresponding expenditure under State share was ` 577.38 Lakh. The Schemes under CDP can be broadly categorized into Seed Sector, Cocoon Sector, Post Cocoon Technology Sector and Support Service Sector.

 

Performance of the Directorate during 2010-11:

An analysis of the performance of the West Bengal Silk sector during 2010-11 indicates good progress despite many odds. The highlights of the achievements made during 2010-11, in particular, are given below:

• In Mulberry sector, a steady increase in the price of commercial cocoon (Rs. 180/-to 225/- per KG) coupled with significant enhancement in cocoon productivity (35-45 Kgs. / 100 Dfls) was observed during 2010-11. The same trend is likely to continue in the years to come.
• Amidst serious administrative problems and inconveniences in the major Tasar growing areas of the State (Junglemahal) for quite sometime past, significant increase in the consumption of Tasar DFLs, successful harvest of crops (50-60 Cocoons/DFL) and remunerative price of cocoons which ranged between 1500/- to 1800/- per Kahan are some of the encouraging facts noticed in 2010-11. As a new venture, Raw Material Bank for marketing of Tasar cocoons started functioning at Tantipara, Birbhum at a temporary accommodation as makeshift arrangement
• On receipt of necessary concurrence from the Government, a total of 19 SHGs comprising more than 250 members were constituted to combat the acute manpower constraint in the Sericulture Nurseries which started functioning covering almost all Sericulture practicing Districts of the state. There has been perceptible and noticeable improvement in the working environment of Sericulture Farms following engagement of SHGs
• As part of Installation of IT Network at DOT(S)-WB, several Modules dealing with the preparation of Data Bank for generation of different reports on Technical matters, Salary and other Bill preparation, Baseline Survey of beneficiaries etc have been developed during 1^st  and 2^nd phase and being used at present. However, there remains ample scope for further development in this direction
• Gradual replacement of Local variety of Mulberry with High Yielding Variety and wider spacing
• Application of more quantity of Organic Manure / Bio-fertilizer minimizing use of Chemical Fertilizer & thereby conserving health of soil
• However, the overall performance of Muga Sector has not been very encouraging. This is primarily due to paucity of Muga Seeds in adequate quantity which is supposed to be met up Muga Silkworm Seed Organization (MSSO), Central Silk Board, Guwahati

 

Thrust areas for future Development:

• Overall Improvement in Production, Productivity & Product Quality through expansion of area under host plantation
• Establishment of Silk Park at Malda in the state with state-of-the-art infrastructure for overall promotion of the industry
• Introduction of new package of practices in the field evolved by the Research Institutes from time to time and continuing the efforts to modernize and mechanize the post cocoon sector, linking Sericulture with  major agro based programmes of the Union Government like RKVY, MGNREGP etc for better funding etc are the thrust areas for development

 

Generally, before the beginning of a financial Year, Annual Plan for different activities to be undertaken during that particular financial year is formulated with clear mention of financial resources against targets to be achieved. The physical performance of the Directorate in respect of a number of key parameters namely extension of area, DFLs produced, DFLs reared, Cocoon produced, raw silk produced etc are given in the table below:

 

 

 

 

PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE ON SOME KEY PARAMETERS
Period : 2010- 2011
( Non - Mulberry Sector - Tasar )
Sl. No.	Items	Annual Target	Achievement	Achievement %
1	Extension of New Area                             (Under DOS & Others (Acre)	600	464.60	77.43
2	D.F.Ls Produced (’000)	615	819.64	133.27
3	D.F.Ls Reared (’000)	800	819.64	102.46
4	Cocoon Produced (Kahan)	31250	35,320.65	113.03
5	Raw-silk produced (MT)	38	40.813	107.40
6	Silk Waste produced : (MT)	19	21.5988	113.68
7	Training imparted (Nos.)	430	509	118.37
8	Addl. Employment (Nos)	1200	929	77.42
( Non - Mulberry Sector - Muga )
Sl. No.	Items	Annual Target	Cumulative	Achievement %
1	Extension of New Area                              ( Under DOS & Other(Acre)	100	63	63
2	D.F.Ls Produced (’000)	122.4	67.115	55
3	D.F.Ls Reared (’000)	122.4	55.13	45
4	Cocoon Produced(Lakh Nos.)	32.2	10.1572	31.54
5	Raw-silk produced (Kg)	644	220	34.161
6	Silk Waste produced  (Kg)	322	110	34.161
7	Training imparted (Nos.)	180	183
8	Addl. Employment (Nos)	200	126	63
( Non - Mulberry Sector - Eri )
Sl. No.	Items	Annual Target	Cumulative	Achievement %
1	Extension of New Area( Under DOS & Others) (Acre)	200	130	65
2	D.F.Ls Produced (’000)	196	144.03	73.48
3	D.F.Ls Reared (’000)	200	144.03	72.01
4	Cocoon Produced (MT)	18	8.206	45.59
5	Spun-silk produced (MT)	14	5.9655	42.61
6	Training imparted (Nos.)	450	391	86.89
7	Addl. Employment (Nos)	400	260	65

 

 

                     Similarly, the financial performance of the Directorate is measured by the actual expenditure made against the Fund allocated. Accordingly, the financial performance of the Directorate for the year 2010-11is given in the Table below:

 

Financial Performance for the Year 2010-11 (`in Lakh)