By Dr Yatharth Kachiar
India is the second-biggest producer of silk yarn in the globe soon after China. In 2017-20, the Indian government allocated Rs 2161.68 crore beneath its Central Sector Scheme ‘Silk Samagra’ to market silk production. With its wealthy heritage of Tassar culture and vast forest sources, Odisha is one of the ideal-suited states to lead the nation in sericulture and Tassar silk production. In collaboration with the TATA Steel Foundation, the district administration in Jajpur (Odisha) is reviving Asia’s biggest sericulture farm at Sukinda. To assure protected and resilient future for indigenous communities involved in sericulture, the district administration has joined hands with Ms Archana Soreng, member of the UN Secretary General’s Youth advisory group on climate transform for promotion of NTFP-based livelihood in the district.
A little district in Odisha, Jajpur is also dwelling to Gopalpur Tassar Fabrics, one of the country’s major Tassar making centres. The renowned Gopalpur Tassar fabrics, recognized for their artistic hand spun and hand reeled yarns, received Geographical Indication (GI) tag from the central government in 2009. After its revival, the Sukinda sericulture farm spread in an location of 298 hectare will act as a demonstration park and major sericulture hub in the nation. It will have globe-class spinning and reeling facilities, a cocoon bank, and a higher-high-quality plantation for silkworm rearing, as per the district officials. Advanced technologies such as geofencing and drone technologies is getting used to assure right demarcation, monitoring, tracking, and capturing of plantation activity in a phase-smart manner.
Moreover, by leveraging technologies and ideal agricultural practices, the Jajpur administration is advertising sericulture on an intensive scale at Sukinda to assure the socio-financial upliftment of the households involved in sericulture market. As a labour-intensive and agro-based cottage market, Tassar rearing in Sukinda is mainly practised by people today belonging to poor and socially backward sections of society who are dependent on biodiversity utilisation for their sustenance. The market is recognized for supplying indirect employment to an equal quantity of reelers, spinners, and weavers.
By making certain backward and forward linkages in pre-and post-cocoon activities, the Sukinda Sericulture farm will double the family members revenue and assure sustainable earning all through the year for households involved in this market. It will also produce employment through a variety of phases of silk production by means of financial plantation, inter-cropping activities, cocoon production, reeling, spinning, weaving and capacity constructing. The females Self Help Group (SHGs) are particularly encouraged to lead the site’s operational upkeep to increase gender inclusivity and females empowerment.
The project will also play a essential function in advertising and preserving biodiversity and the ecological balance of nature by making forests by means of the huge plantation of indigenous host plants Arjun and Asan. The destruction of organic habitats of the Sukinda assortment of silkworm, Sukinda Ecorace, due to anthropogenic anxiety has impacted its population size. The forest regeneration activity will also assistance revive this endangered species.
Until lately, sericulture was viewed as a subsidiary occupation in the nation. However, the advancement of technologies has produced it attainable to practice it on an intensive scale. The higher demand for silk and silk goods at the worldwide level has produced the sericulture market capable of creating sufficient revenue for the people today involved in its complete worth chain method. The present worldwide situation indicates the huge possibilities for the Indian silk market. The international demand for silk is accompanied by development in domestic consumption due to the rise in the middle-class population. Unsurprisingly, India is the biggest customer of silk in the globe. It is important that India seizes this chance in sericulture as quickly as attainable. The revival project of the Sukinda sericulture farm by the district administration in Jajpur is a positive step.
However, in spite of the positive intent and administrative will, the sericulture industry’s development in Jajpur will not be with no its challenges. One of the main challenges for the district administration is restricted interest amongst young people today to practice Tassar sericulture. It is crucial to attract youth towards this age-old craft for the lengthy-term and sustainable improvement of the sericulture market. Another attainable challenge is the advertising and marketing of Tassar-based solutions, particularly when complementary and substitute solutions are competing to take away the industry share of Tassar. Nevertheless, if implemented meticulously, the revival of the Sukinda Sericulture farm in Jajpur would be a giant step for India in making Tassar-reeled yarn which can ultimately replace Chinese yarn in the worldwide industry.
(The author is an independent researcher. She is also a Doctorate from JNU, New Delhi. Twitter: @YKachiar . Views expressed are individual and do not reflect the official position or policy of the TheSpuzz Online.)