Sericulture as a Livelihood Option in Raigarh, Chhattisgarh

Abstract.

Sericulture is a developmental industry for rural development, as it works well with farming methods and has the potential to generate attractive income throughout the year. It has modest startup costs and provides year-round employment. Sericulture, which belongs to the cottage and small-scale sector, is an environmentally benign, labor intensive and economically attractive economic activity based on agriculture. The entire sericulture sector has a long supply chain, from mulberry planting to textile production. Sericulture is important for the social and economic advancement of the rural residents. Out of 6,38,588 villages in India, there are about 69,000 villages that produce silk, employing about 82.5 million people, out of which 9, 47,631 families make a living from sericulture. India is the only country in the world to cultivate all known commercial types of silk, including mulberry, tropical tasar, oak tasar, eri and muga. India is still the world's second largest producer of silk. The country produced a total of 35820 MT of raw silk in 2019-20, and in 2020-21 this number decreased to 33770 MT, mainly due to the corona epidemic, while in 2021-22, the total production of raw silk was 34923 MT, This created 8.7 million jobs. All the 27 districts of Chhattisgarh are engaged in the work of sericulture. The state is implementing three different sericulture activities: Tasar, Mulberry and Eri. Raigad district produces 15,93,7,216 lakh cocoons with 63,6375 beneficiaries in a total area of 222.6 hectares. This article attempts to inform and explore the relevance of sericulture. Current research examines possible career paths resulting from problem analysis of the subject area. According to research, sericulture offers residents of Raigad district a business option that doubles their income. We discovered a strong link with economic growth. Tribal lifestyle is changing as a result of economic development and progress. The sericulture industry improves without having any negative impact on the traditional business. The study concludes with a number of recommendations to increase the long-term viability of silk production.