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Status of Silk Industry in India

Article · February 2011

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 STATUS OF SILK INDUSTRY IN INDIA
Published in Kisan world, vol 38,no.2, Feb'2011, pp.45- 49

Introduction:
Silk - the queen of all fabrics is historically one of India's most important
industries. India produces a variety of silks called Mulberry, Tasar, Muga and Eri, based
production of raw silk, which is the yarn obtained out of cocoons spun by certain species
of insects. The major activities of sericulture comprises of food-plant cultivation to feed
the silkworms which spin silk cocoons and reeling the cocoons for unwinding the silk
filament for value added benefits such as processing and weaving.
Geographically, Asia is the main producer of silk in the world and produces over
95 % of the total global output. Though there are over 40 countries on the world map of
silk, bulk of it is produced in China and India, followed by Japan, Brazil and Korea.
China is the leading supplier of silk to the world with an annual production of 153942
MT (2006), out of which the Mulberry raw silk product is 115092 MT.
India is the second largest producer of silk with 18475 MT (2006-07) and also the
largest consumer of silk in the world. It has a strong tradition and culture bound domestic
market of silk. In India, mulberry silk is produced mainly in the states of Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and West Bengal, while the non-
mulberry silks are produced in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Orissa and north-eastern states.

History of silk:
Historically, sericulture was introduced for the first time, into China by Hoshomin,
the Queen of China. For a long time, sericulture was considered to be a national secret by
the Chinese Government, and as an industry it was not known in other countries. Later, it
was introduced into Europe and Japan as well. According to reports available, sericulture
was introduced into India about 400 years back and the industry flourished as an agro-
industry till 1857, with an annual production of two million pounds of silk fibre. The
industry survived the onslaught of the Pebrine disease during the period from 1857 to
1895. However, after 1928, the sericulture industry showed a decline in its production
owing to the fierce competition from advanced sericulture countries, such as Japan, China
and European countries. After the Independence, the industry is flourishing as an agro-
industry, giving employment to over 7 million people in the Country.
Strengths of sericulture industry:
Sericulture has been identified as an occupation of low investments, employment
creating and income generating. It has been found that sericulture is highly profitable as
compared to many other crops. Sericulture involves simple technologies, easy to
understand and adopt even by illiterate farmers and it gives returns in quick succession
yielding income in every two or three months. Sericulture does not involve hard labour
and rearing of silkworms is generally attended to by women and old people. Sericulture
does not require sophisticated machinery and it involves use of simple appliances.
Mulberry plants can be grown in any type of soil even in forest fringes, hill slopes and
watershed areas. Sericulture ideally suits even in rain fed conditions because of its low
cost of production and higher returns than any other crop. Mulberry plant withstands
severe drought conditions and gives at least some income for sustenance while other
agriculture crops wither away. Sericulture would be a more advantageous industry for
improving the economy of retarded section of the society like scheduled caste and
scheduled tribes. Non- mulberry sericulture is largely practiced by the tribals. Sericulture
ideally suits small and marginal farmers.
In developing countries like .India, agriculture and agro-based industries play a vital
role in the improvement of rural economy. The limited availability of land, the limited
cash returns, and agriculture being confined to one or two seasons in the year, have made
villages to look for supporting rural industries, such as sericulture. Agriculture and
sericulture are adopted simultaneously by the agriculturists in regions where the
ecological conditions are favourable. In India, over three million people are employed in
various fields of sericulture. It is a cottage industry and provides ample work for the
womenfolk in the rural areas in rearing silk worms, while the male members work in the
fields. Recently the enforcing of new ideas by research institutions both in mulberry
cultivation and silk-worm-handling among sericulturists, the industry is now practised as
a main profession and as a major cash crop of the country.
The strengths of silk industry can be summarized as follows:
 Huge production capacity
  Efficient raw material manufacturing capacity
 Large pool of skilled and cheap labor
 Entrepreneurial skills
 Huge export potential
 Large domestic market
 Very low import content
 Flexible silk manufacturing systems
The strength of this industry lies in its wide base, the sustaining market demand
pull especially from the Indian handloom weaving sector, the infrastructure created by
the national sericulture project and the research and training capabilities.
Silk production in India:
The tables 1 shows that Production of raw silk in India during the years 2000 to
2007. The year to year production of all silk varieties shows a growth trend. In 2006-07,
Mulberry accounts for 89.45%, Eri 8.04%, Tasar 1.89%, and Muga 0.62%, of the total
raw silk production of 18475 MTs in the country. But among the four varieties of silk
produced, Mulberry accounts for 89.45% of production whereas the other three varieties
contributes lesser percentage to the total production.
Table No.1 Production of silk
% to % to % to % to
Mulberry Tasar Eri Muga Total
Years total total total total

1999-00 13944 91.65 211 1.39 974 6.40 85 0.56 15214

2000-01 14432 91.01 237 1.49 1089 6.87 99 0.62 15857
2001-02 15842 91.30 249 1.44 1160 6.69 100 0.58 17351
2002-03 14617 89.57 284 1.74 1316 8.06 102 0.63 16319
2003-04 13970 88.74 315 2.00 1352 8.59 105 0.67 15742
2004-05 14620 88.61 322 1.95 1448 8.78 110 0.67 16500
2005-06 15445 89.25 308 1.78 1442 8.33 110 0.64 17305
2006-07 16525 89.45 350 1.89 1485 8.04 115 0.62 18475

Source: CSB, Bangalore (In Metric tonnes)

Among the developing countries, India enjoys a very favourable position of doubling
the present status of silk production owing to the low cost of labour. Sericulture is ideally
suited for improving the rural economy of the country, as it is practiced as a subsidiary
industry to agriculture. Recent research has also shown that sericulture can be developed
as a highly rewarding agro-industry.
Mulberry silk is produced extensively in the states of Karnataka, West Bengal and
Jammu and Kashmir. About 85 per cent of the country's production is contributed by the
Karnataka state by rearing multivoltine hybrids of silkworm and this activity enables the
sericulturists to harvest five to six crops a year. Jammu and Kashmir, owing to its
salubrious climate during autumn and spring, is producing silk by rearing univoltine
silkworms. Other states, namely, Andhra pradesh, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Uttar
Pradesh,Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, contribute roughly 1.8 percent to the total
production of mulberry silk in India. Tasar silkworms are reared traditionally by the tribal
people of Madhya Pradesh,Bihar, Orissa. These 3 states mainly contribute to the
production of tasar silk in the country. The recent rearing of Antherea royeli & Antherea
perniyi has enabled the country to produce the oak tasar silk in the sub-Himalayan belt &
in Manipur.
Muga silk is grown exclusively in Assam & it is still considered to be a
ceremonial dress by the local population. Assam produces as much as 90% of eri silk in
the country by rearing eri silkworms on castor leaves.
Export and import of silk
Table No.2
Exports of silk from India
(Rs in crore)
Year Exports Trend
v
a
l
u
e

1997-98 1006.43 1188.11

1998-99 999.45 1390.344
1999-00 1601.57 1592.579
2000-01 2292.52 1794.814
2001-02 2083.88 1997.049
 2002-03 2184.13 2199.284
2003-04 2505.31 2401.518
2004-05 2671.46 2603.753
2005-06 3069.39 2805.988
2006-07 3196.89 3008.223
2007-08 2581.09 3210.458
2008-09 3412.693
2009-10 3614.927
2010-11 3817.162
2011-12 4019.397
Including a Silk Yarn, Fabrics & Madeups,
Silk Waste and silk RMG.

The table 2 shows the export of silk goods from India and trend value estimated
from the year 1997 to 2012. The trend value for the years 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004,
2005 and 2007 are more than the actual value. In these years, silk goods exports show an
unsatisfactory trend. While the trend value of Growth of silk exports in India is less than
the trend value in the periods, 2001, 2002, and 2006. It shows the satisfactory trend in
these periods. In case of future prediction, the estimated growth of silk exports from India
will be 4019.397 cores of silk exports in the years 2012. The major silk trading countries
in the world are India, United States, Germany, Italy, France, Australia, Japan, China,
and Thailand. Germany is the largest consumer of Indian silk. With substantial
government and international subsidies for silk projects and marketing schemes, the
industry has been expanding rapidly over the last few years. Silk exports too are growing
rapidly.

Table No.3
Imports of silks goods into India
Value in Rs.Million
Year Silk yarn & Raw silk
fabrics

1997-98 - 2183.31
1998-99 - 2593.64
1999-00 619.75 4127.44
2000-01 910.21 4732.61
2001-02 1729.94 6247.30
2002-03 2930.4 6471.50
 2003-04 5298.9 6291.7
2004-05 8030.6 6374.3
2005-06 9645.8 7797.1
2006-07 9004.9 6733.7
Source: Ministry of Textiles in India

The above table shows the imports of raw silk and Silk yarn & fabrics
between 1998 and 2007. The year to year continuous increase imports of silks
shows that domestic production of raw silk is not adequate to meet the domestic
and export demand. It is estimated that against the demand of around 26,000 ton
per annum the domestic production is around 17300 tonnes. The gap of nearly
8700 tones in demand is mainly on account of the fact that high-grade quality
mulberry raw silk is not being produced in the country to the extent required by
the industry. This mulberry raw silk is basically required in the power loom
industry, for export purposes, and to some extent in the handloom industry for
warp purposes.

3500
Exports and Imports of Silk exports
3000
imports
Rs in Crores

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07
Year

Problems of Indian silk industry:

 Imports of cheap and alternative textiles from other Asian neighbours
 Use of outdated manufacturing technology
 Primitive and unscientific "reeling" and "weaving" techniques
 Use of poor quality seeds
  Low production of bivoltine seeds
 Use of non-graded and diseased seeds
 Poor knowledge of farm disease amongst farmers
 Poor supply chain management
 Huge unorganized and decentralized sector
 High production cost
 Recurring droughts
 Increased import of silk from China
Conclusion
India is the unique country in the world where all the four varieties of silk namely
mulberry, tassar, eri and muga are produced. Today the Indian silk industry is already a
major player in the global scenario and the growth prospects for the industry seem to be
buoyant. Measures like the encouragement of additional technological and economic
research in the various aspects of sericulture, standardization and quality control of silk
and silk products, provision of quality seeds, imparting knowledge among the farmers
regarding farm disease and rationalization of marketing and stabilization of prices of silk
cocoons and raw silk, it could expand rapidly than ever before.

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