Benefits of the domestic 'silk route'

India seems set to become the world’s leading producer of silk and silk products by 2030, thanks to rapid strides in the cultivation of silkworms and production of silk fibre from their cocoons – technically termed sericulture. The annual production of silk, estimated at 36,500 tonnes in 2022-23, is projected to surge to more than 50,000 tonnes by 2030, and surpass that of China, the world’s largest silk producer. India’s main focus now is on inducting modern technologies into this sector, where a sizable section of silk farmers is still following the age-old practices of silk production. The area under mulberry, castor, and other plants, whose leaves constitute the basic feed of silkworms, is also proposed to be expanded in several states. More importantly, efforts are afoot to encourage gainful uses of sericulture byproducts, some of which have great commercial potential. This would help augment the income of silk farmers and improve the quality of silk fibre, fabric, and other products, including silk garments.
 

Apart from the major silk-producing states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, some smaller players in this sector, such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, have also drawn up ambitious plans to promote sericulture. According to silk-industry sources, the sericulture market, estimated at worth over Rs 53,000 crore in 2023, is expected to exceed Rs 2 trillion by the early 2030s, registering a robust annual growth rate of over 15 per cent.
 

However, Indian sericulture exports may follow an unpredictable trajectory due largely to the huge domestic demand for silk products, which is growing faster than indigenous production. Even now India has to import about 4,000 tonnes of silk annually to meet the requirements of the silk-based industry. So, regardless of the anticipated rise in domestic silk output, the availability of silk for exports may remain limited, and continue to fluctuate, as has been the case in the recent past. In 2021-22, the country exported silk and its products worth around $248.56 million, up 25.3 per cent from the previous year’s shipments. But these exports dipped to $220.5 million in 2022-23. The role of the pandemic in this swing has, however, not been figured out. The future trend of exports, too, seems hard to foresee.
 

Significantly, India enjoys a distinctive advantage of being practically the only nation which produces all the four kinds of silk — Mulberry, Muga, Eri, and Tussar. These are produced by different species of silkworms, also called moths, and have different qualities. Among these, mulberry silk, produced by domesticated moths named Bombyx mori, which are reared on mulberry leaves, is the most common and accounts for the bulk of the country’s silk output. Mulberry silk is known for its strength, fine texture, and glossy sheen, which makes it highly suitable for making saris, the typical women’s wear in India.
 

Muga silk, on the other hand, is a special kind of golden-hued silk churned out by wild-dwelling silkworms called Antheraea assamensis. These are found primarily in Assam and its surrounding areas. This silk is valued for its lustre, glossy texture, and durability. It generally carries a premium price.
 

Eri silk (also known as Endi and Errandi), having a dull golden-yellow coloured fibre, is also produced largely in Assam and other Northeastern states by a species of silkworms called Sami ricini, which feed on castor leaves. Unlike the other silkworms, which are generally killed inside the cocoons during the fibre extraction process, which involves boiling them in water, these moths normally abandon the cocoons prior to this operation. This silk is, therefore, also termed in the market parlance “Ahimsa” (non-violent) silk, and is, consequently, preferred by vegans and Buddhist monks.
 

Tussar silk, mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts as Kosa, is virtually a weather-proof material, as the garments made from it remain cool in summer and warm in winter. It is produced mainly in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand, with Bhagalpur in Bihar being the main hub of its production.
 

Though sericulture is more lucrative than many other allied fields of agriculture, its profitability can be ramped up by promoting gainful utilisation of its byproducts. Many silk-producing countries have made major advances in this direction. A small silk producer like Cuba can be a case in point. It is extracting oil from silkworm pupae, which have a high content of health-boosting Omega-3 fatty acid, and also sericin, a gelatinous substance rich in protein. It is also producing mulberry juice, which has huge consumer demand. India is hardly exploiting the commercial potential of such products. Thankfully, this aspect of sericulture has now begun to get the attention of policy planners. Creating a market for the byproducts of sericulture would hugely benefit silk farmers, as also other stakeholders in the silk sector.

surinder.sud@gmail.com