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(Sogdian silk, 8th century)
HISTORY
CHINA IS THE ORIGIN OF SERICULTURE.
CHINESE LADY NAMED HSI-LING-SHIH INVENTED MYSTERY
OF SILKWORM COCOONS ACCIDENTALY.
IT IS SAID THAT SILK IS DISCOVERED BEFORE 3000 B.C.
ART OF SILK PRODUCTION WAS A SECRET UPTO 200 B.C.
( FOR ABOUT 2800 YEARS )
TRADING OF SILK WAS THROUGH THE SILK ROAD AT THAT
TIME.
BY ABOUT 300 AD SERICULTURE HAD SPREAD TO INDIA
FROM KOREA.
SILK ROAD
IN 1857, WORLD SERICULTURE INDUSTRY SUFFERED FROM
PEBRINE DISEASE.
THIS ALMOST DESTROYED EUROPIAN SERICULTURE
INDUSTRY.
LOUIS PASTEUR DISCOVER “MME” TECHNIQUE TO
CONTROLL THAT DISEASE
3. Sericulture means cultivation of host plants and rearing
silkworms which finally produces SILK.
The word silk sounds luxury and class.
Till today, no other fabric can match it in luster and
elegance.
As long as human desire for silk garments continues, the
demand for sericulture activity remains.
Silk is the queen of textile and the naturally produced
animal fibre
INTRODUCTION TO
SERICULTURE
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4. Silk is known as BIO STEEL due to strength of it.
China is the world’s largest producer of silk.
Though, way behind in quantum of production, the
Indian silk industry has some unique features.
India is emerging as a major silk producing country
in the world. Among the countries producing silk, India
ranks second.
INTRODUCTION (cont…)
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5. DIFFERENT TYPES OF SILK
Mulberry silk
Eri silk
Tasar silk
Muga silk
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FEATURES OF INDIAN SILK INDUSTRY
India has favourable environment conditions for both
Mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing.
India is second largest producer of Raw silk with market
share of 13.96% after China which is having 82.62% share.
India is the only country produces all 4 types silk.
Indian handloom fabrics has good global demand.
India is very well known for its finished products.
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and
Jammu Kashmir are the five traditional states accounts for
around 90% of the total production.
7. Karnataka accounts for more than 50 percent of the country's
total silk production earlier, but during 2007-08 it came down to 45
percent.
The silk industry is giving employment to 63 lakh people in the
country including 46 lakh farmers, three lakh reelers and 14 lakh
weavers.
Thus, there is considerable scope for stepping up production of
raw silk in the country, overcome the persistent conflict of interest
between exporters of silk products and producers of raw silk.
FEATURES OF INDIAN SILK INDUSTRY
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11. SILKWORM REARING (Cocoons)
Regulated Market (Cocoon sale)
Reeling (Raw silk) Silk Spinning
Silk Exchange (Sale of raw silk)
KSMB Traders Twisters
Dyed Yarn (Degumming Bleaching, Dyeing) Throwing (Twisted Yarn)
Handloom Weaving (Silk Fabrics) Power loom Weaving (Kora silk fabrics)
Degumming bleaching, Dyeing, Printing, Silk Fabrics
DOMESTIC AND EXPORT MARKETS
Noil Yarn ((Carpets)
MARKETING CHANNELS
OF SILK
Gopal Naik, et. al (1993)
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INDUSTRIES PROFIT SHARE
(%)
Rearers 56.8
Reelers 6.8
Twisters 9.1
Weavers 10.7
Traders 16.6
PROFIT SHARE (%)
Rearers
Reelers
Twister s
Weavers
Traders
Share of profit in Silk industry
13. SERICULTURE
Sericulture is an agro based cottage industry,
which include three main activities Production of
quality seed, rearing of Silkworm and raising of
cocoons for silk, Reeling of cocoons and yield of
silk. The cultivation of Mulberry, the leaves of
which are used for feeding the silkworms, rearing
of silkworms for production of cocoons are indeed
activities of agriculture nature.
Reeling of cocoons, which yield silk, is basically an
industrial activity. Naturally Sericulture involves
agriculture and industry, therefore it is recognized
as an agro - industry.
14. History of Sericulture
Historically, sericulture was introduced in 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. Sericulture was
introduced in India 400 years back and the industry
flourished as an agro-industry giving employment
to over 7.3 million people in the Country.
15. What is silk ?
Naturally Silk is a Protein. Silk emitted
by the silkworm consists of two main
proteins, sericin and fibroin.
Fibroin being the structural centre of the silk, and sericin
being the sticky material surrounding it.
Fibroin is made up of the amino acids Gly-Ser-Gly-Ala-
Gly-Ala and forms beta pleated sheets. Hydrogen
bonds form between chains, and side chains form above
and below the plane of the hydrogen bond network.
16. The high proportion (50%) of glycine, which is a
small amino acid, allows tight packing and the fibers
are strong and resistant to breaking.
The tensile strength is due to the many inter seeded
hydrogen bonds, and when stretched the force is
applied to these numerous bonds and they do not
break.
Silk is resistant to most mineral acids, except
for sulphuric acid, which dissolves it. It is yellowed
by perspiration.
17. Sericulture has been practiced for at least 5000 years in
China
The Silkworm (Bombyx mori, Latin for “silkworm of the
mulberry tree") is, technically, not a worm. It is the larva
or caterpillar of a moth in the family Bombicidae
A silkworm's diet consists solely of mulberry leaves
The silkworm (Bombyx mori) is entirely dependent on
humans for its reproduction and no longer occurs in the
wild. It is native to northern China. Its nearest wild
relative is Bombyx mandarina with which it is able to
hybridize
The silkworm female deposits around 400 eggs at a
time. In an area the size of your monitor screen, about
100 moths would deposit more than 40,000 eggs, each
18. The female dies almost immediately after depositing the
eggs; the male lives only a short time after. The adult does
not eat during the short period of its mature existence
After growing to its maximum size at around 6 weeks, the
larva is about 10,000 times heavier than when it hatched
One hectare of mulberry trees yields about eleven tons of
leaves, producing around 450 pounds of cocoons, but just
about 85 pounds of raw silk
The cocoon is made of a single continuous thread of raw
silk around 1 kilometer (2/3 of a mile) long
About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a
pound of silk. One pound of silk represents about 1,000
miles of filament
19. It takes silk from over 2,000 cocoons to produce a single
kimono
The annual world production represents 70 billion miles of
silk filament, a distance well over 300 round trips to the sun
Based on 1 kilometre (2/3 of mile) per cocoon, ten
unravelled cocoons could theoretically extend vertically to
the height of Mount Everest
The shimmering appearance for which silk is prized comes
from the fiber’s triangular prism-like structure which allows
silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles
Silk fibers are very fine, about 10 nanometers (1/2500th of
an inch) in diameter
Strong as steel in tensile strength, silk is the strongest
natural fiber known to man
Silk is much lower in density compared to cotton, wool or
nylon. It is, therefore, highly moisture absorbent, able to
20. A highly versatile fabric, silk has proven to be ideal for a
variety of uses – from formal wear to sleepwear, from
parachutes to rugs, from medical sutures to prosthetic
arteries
Silk has a miniscule percentage of the global textile fiber
market – less than 0.2%. Yet the actual trading value of silk
and silk products is in many billions of dollars since the unit
price for raw silk is roughly twenty times that of raw cotton
Current world silk production is estimated to be around
125,000 metric tons. China produces about 80% of the
world’s silk; and India over 10%
Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Uzbekistan also
have a significant production of raw silk and silk yarn. Brazil
is the only non-Asian country that is a significant producer
of raw silk or silk yarn
United States is the largest silk importer in the world
21. Did we know ?
The journey from
Silkworm egg to a
matured larva in 25-28
days time gains 10,000
times of the weight of the
egg…… which is highest
in the Animal Kingdom.
The filament from one
Mulberry Cocoon (Biv.)
can be more than 1
kilometer.
24. Mulberry Silk Culture
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum :Arthropoda
Class : Insecta
Order : Lepidoptera
Family : Bombycidae
Genus : Bombyx
Species : Bombyx mori
Bombyx mori.Lin.
25. Kingdom : Plantae
Phylum : Dichotilidanea
Class :Monochlamydeae
Order : Unisexuales
Family : Moraceae
Species : Morus alba. Linn.
Morus alba.Lin.
26. Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum :Arthropoda
Class : Insecta
Order : Lepidoptera
Family : Saturniidae
Sub Family:Saturniinae
Genus : Samia
Species : Samia cynthia ricini
Samia cynthia ricini
Eri Silk Culture
27. Kingdom : Plantae
Phylum : Dichotilidanea
Class :Monochlamydeae
Order : Unisexuales
Family : Euphorbiaceae
Species : Ricinus
communis.Linn.
Ricinus communis.Linn.
28. Antheraea paphia
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum :Arthropoda
Class : Insecta
Order : Lepidoptera
Family : Saturniidae
Sub Family:Saturniinae
Genus : Antheraea
Species : Antheraea paphia
Tasar Silk Culture
29. Kingdom : Plantae
Phylum : Dichotilidanea
Class :Polypetalae
Order : Disciflorae
Family : Combretaceae
Species : Terminalia arjuna.
Terminalia arjuna
30. Antheraea assamensis
Kingdom : Animalia
Phylum :Arthropoda
Class : Insecta
Order : Lepidoptera
Family : Saturniidae
Sub Family:Saturniinae
Genus : Antheraea
Species : Antheraea assamensis
Muga Silk Culture
31. Kingdom : Plantae
Phylum : Angiosperms
Class :Polypetalae
Order : Laurales
Family : Lauraceae
Species : Litsea polyantha.
Litsea polyantha
43. Silkworm Seed Production
The silkworm seed production centers are referred to as grainages.
The silkworm seed known as Disease Free Layings are prepared in
their centers and supplied to the farmers for rearing. Both
Government and private sector grainages are involved in this activity.
Moriculture
Cultivation of mulberry plants is referred to as Moriculture. It is an
agricultural activity. In Tamil Nadu, mulberry cultivation is mainly
taken up in irrigated condition. Flat, deep, fertile, well drained loamy
and clay loamy with good moisture holding capacity soil is ideal for
mulberry cultivation.
Sericulture Activities
44. Marketing of cocoons
The farmers can sell the cocoon produced by them in the
nearest Govt. Cocoon Markets. In the cocoon markets
reasonable floor price is fixed by scientific methods and the
final selling price is decided in the open auction. Here, silk
reelers buy the cocoons produced by the farmers for
producing silk.
Silkworm Rearing
Silkworm Rearing is considered to be an agro based cottage
industry since it involves mulberry cultivation. Silkworms are
reared for the production of “cocoons” which is the raw material
for silk production. The farmers rear silkworms and produce
cocoons. By marketing the cocoons the farmers earn money. It
is ideally suited for the rural areas of Sericulture States.
Silkworms are reared in well ventilated rearing shed following
shoot rearing method.
