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CHAPTER VII
SUMMARY, FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION
SUMMARY, FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION
Sericulture is an ago-based cottage industry having vast potential for
generating income and employment opportunities in rural areas. This is an industry
very much suitable for the countries having an agricultural base and problems of
providing employment to rural labourers. It is one of the crop enterprises identified
as the most appropriate labour intensive cottage industry for backward regions.
The most important feature of the sericulture technology is that it is more
labour intensive rather than capital intensive. Hence, this industry is very much
suitable for small and marginal farmers who have got more labour than land and
capital.
The technology of sericulture is simple, which can be followed even by less
educated persons. It requires only a small initial investment and can yield income
within a very short period of time. Silk, the end product of this industry, is having
great reputation and demand all over the world. There are many varieties of silk, but
generally the term silk refers to the silk of mulberry origin because almost 95 per
cent of the world silk production is mulberry silk.
This industry was first developed in China and at present it is practiced in
about 30 countries of the world. The Asian countries contribute more than 90
percent of global silk production. China is the leading producer of silk in the world
producing more than 80 per cent of the total production of all the countries.
India is the second largest producer of silk and is the only country in the
world producing all types of commercially known silks, viz., mulberry, eri, muga
and tasar silks. Mulberry silk production in India is largely concentrated in southern
Karnataka and in the districts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Almost 90 per
cent of the mulberry silk production of India comes from these areas. West Bengal
and Jammu and Kashmir are other important producers. At present the industry is
spread to almost all States of the Country. Sericulture holds an important place in
our national economy. It has played a very significant role in the socio-economic
development of various States of the Country. India is an exporter of finished silk
garments and at the same time an importer of raw silk.
The Government has recognized this industry as an employment oriented
industry for rural areas and is giving an important place in the Plan allocations.
Government has set up the Central Silk Board under the Central Silk Board Act, 1948
to look after the sericultural program in the Country.
Sericulture industry is growing in Kerala also. The soil and climatic
conditions of the State are very much suitable for the development of this industry.
The Government of Kerala has set up the Kerala State Sericulture Co-operative
Federation Ltd. (Serifed) in 1994 and entrusted them with the task of promoting
sericultural activities in the State.
The present study was intended to assess the progress of the sericulture
industry in Kerala by giving due importance to the role of Serifed. The study had
been conducted among the sericultural farmers of the three districts of Kerala, viz.,
237
Alappuzha, Malappuram and Kannur. These three districts were selected as the
representative districts of the South, Central and North zones of Kerala. A total of
300 farmers doing sericulture, consisted of 70 farmers from Alappuzha, 130 farmers
from Malappuram and 100 farmers from Kannur were interviewed. Proper
interactions were also made with the officials of Serifed at the three district offices
and those of the head office of Serifed at Thiruvananthapuram. The findings of the
study are given below:
7.1. GENERAL
0 In order to have a systematic approach to the problem, the sericulture
farmers of the study area were divided in to three classes namely, Small, Medium
and Large classes on the basis of their cocoon production. Out of the 300 farmers
interviewed, 226 farmers (75.33 per cent) were small class of farmers who had a
cocoon production of less than 100 Kgs, 50 farmers (16.67 per cent) were medium
class who had a production between 100 and 200 Kgs and 24 farmers (eight per cent)
were large class of farmers who had a production of more than 200 Kgs of cocoons in
the financial year 2004-05. It is observed that, small class of farmers is predominant
in all the three districts.
0 The participation of family members in sericultural activities is important
from the point of view of profitable operation of the enterprise. It is observed that
in all the three districts, the rate of participation of family members in sericultural
activities is very high (75 per cent). The level of age and education of the farmers are
found to be favorable for understanding and adopting sericulture technologies as it
is observed that, majority of the farmers belong to the age group of less than 40 and
most of them have the educational status SSLC or below and nobody is reported to
be illiterate. It is found that women have a prominent role in sericulture, as 30.33 per
cent of the total farmers interviewed were women. It is noticed that all the farmers of
the study area belonged to the forward casts and no farmer is reported to be in the
Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe.
0 The income-wise classification of the farmers showed that most of the
farmers (48.33 per cent) in the three districts belong to the annual income group of
Rs.25000 to 50000. Majority of them (62 per cent) are basically agriculturists, which
would enable them to perform better in sericultural activities. Some 15 per cent of
the farmers have reported that they have no occupation other than sericulture.
0 The level of training in sericulture in the three districts is found to be 91 per
cent, which indicates the need for extending training to the remaining farmers also.
Serifed was the major source of training in all the three districts. Most of the farmers
(44.72 per cent) had a training period of 10 to 20 days. This shows that a good
number of farmers have not utilised the full training period of 30 days provided by
Serifed. Out of the trained farmers 70 per cent are males and the remaining 30 per
cent are females. Most of the farmers (43.33 per cent) are having less than 3 years of
experience in sericulture. Only one per cent of the farmers are reported to be having
more than 10 years of experience.
7.2. MULBERRY CULTIVATION
0 Since mulberry leaf is the only food for silkworms, the cultivation of
mulberry is the basic requirement for sericulture. The overall mulberry acreage to
the total land holdings of the sample farmers is found to be 28.41 per cent. In this
respect, the Malappuram district is having the highest share (33.56 per cent) and
Alappuzha is having the lowest share (19.44 per cent). The average mulberry area
per household is 0.56 acre in the three districts. Variation is found in the average
area per household among the three districts. It is 0.63 acre in Malappuram, 0.53
acre in Kannur and 0.46 acre in Alappuzha. Majority of the farmers in the three
districts (52 per cent) possess a mulberry area of 50 to 100 cents. About 28 per cent of
the farmers are having less than 50 cents and only 20 per cent are having more than
one acre of mulberry land. The average area of mulberry possessed by small class of
farmers is 0.47 acre, that of medium class is 0.74 acre and that of large class of
farmers is 0.96 acre. It can be presumed that the average mulberry area per farmer is
enough to conduct sericulture profitably.
0 There are several varieties of mulberry, which can be cultivated according
to the suitability of climate and soil. It is found that, majority of the farmers in the
three districts (55 per cent) are cultivating the variety Victory 1. The variety Kanva 2
is cultivated by about 35 per cent of the farmers and the remaining (10 per cent)
cultivate both these varieties. Both Victory 1 and Kanva 2 are regarded as better
varieties of mulberry. In Malappuram district, majority of the farmers (73.85 per
cent) have planted Victory 1 where as in Alappuzha and Kannur most of the farmers
7.2. MULBERRY CULTIVATION
0 Since mulberry leaf is the only food for silkworms, the cultivation of
mulberry is the basic requirement for sericulture. The overall mulberry acreage to
the total land holdings of the sample farmers is found to be 28.41 per cent. In this
respect, the Malappuram district is having the highest share (33.56 per cent) and
Alappuzha is having the lowest share (19.44 per cent). The average mulberry area
per household is 0.56 acre in the three districts. Variation is found in the average
area per household among the three districts. It is 0.63 acre in Malappuram, 0.53
acre in Kannur and 0.46 acre in Alappuzha. Majority of the farmers in the three
