Research project on murshidabad silk

GLOBAL ISSUE IN DESIGN
2008
MURSHIDABAD SILK
Research Project
By
NOORANI BISWAS
F&T-06, FT0518 ,
NIFT-GANDHINAGAR

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GLOBAL ISSUE IN DESIGN 2008
SYNOPSIS -MURSHIDABAD SILK
Background of the Topic
Silk is the most beautiful and considered as Queen of all
textiles. It has been originated in China and came to India
through trade (silk route).
India also stated producing silk and export silk and silk fabrics
to other countries. One of the most famous silk centers of that
time is Murshidabad (West Bengal).
Murshidabad is involved in sericulture, processing, weaving
and printing of silk fabrics. E.g. saris scarf, etc.
Objectives for Research
 History of silk
 Types of silk
 Properties of silk
 Sericulture
 Reeling
 Processing
 Weaving of silk (handlooms)
 Types of silk fabric
 Adornment on silk fabric (Printing ,Embroidery, etc)
Methodology for Research
 Field visit to Murshidabad.
 Visit to Central Sericulture Research and Training
Institute. (Berhampore).
 Visit to weaving center, market.
 Searching online.
 References from Books, Documents.
Findings
 Current scenario and future prospects of silk
 Advanced technologies related to silk.
 Care for silk fabrics.
NOORANI BISWAS , F&T-06, FT0518 ,
NIFT-GANDHINAGAR

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History of silk
Silk fabric was first developed in ancient China, possibly as
early as 6000 BC and definitely by 3000 BC.
The credit goes to the Chinese queen His-ling-shih or silingchi,
wife of the emperor W’hang, who ruled over china about
2,500 B.C. According to the legend, the empress was moving
in her garden one day, she saw some tiny insects feeding on
mulberry leaves. A few days later, she found the worms had
grown very big and continued watching the process until the
cocoons were spun by the silkworms.
Ancient Chinese
panting depicting
cocoon growing
The 14-yrs old queen carried the cocoons to the palace where
she preserved them until moths emerged. One day she
accidently dropped pierced cocoons into a hot water bath.
When she tried to retrieve them, a shimmering mass of yarns
emerged.
According to another legend silk was discovered earlier by si-
ling-te, the wife of emperor huang-ti. The empress is credited
with the invention of the first loom by 2,640B.C. The deep
devotion of the empress si-ling-te to the development of the
silk industry had such a wide impact on the masses that after
her death, aitars were raised to her memory and she was
worshiped as the “goddess of silkworm”.
Silks were originally reserved for the Kings of China for their
own use and gifts to others, but spread gradually through
Chinese culture both geographically and socially, and then to
many regions of Asia.
Silk warping

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Silk rapidly became a popular luxury fabric in the many
areas accessible to Chinese merchants because of its
texture and luster. Silk was in great demand, and
became a staple of pre-industrial international trade. In
July of 2007, archeologists discovered intricately woven
and dyed silk textiles in a tomb in Jiangxi province, are
dated to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, roughly 2,500 years
ago. Although historians have suspected a long history
of a formative textile industry in ancient China, this find
of silk textiles employing "complicated techniques" of weaving
and dyeing provides direct and concrete evidence for silks
dating before the Mawangdui-discovery and other silks dating
to the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD).
Silk route
Fabulous silk from china and India were carried to Europe by
the silk route, passing through Tashkent, Baghdad, Damascus,
and Istanbul. This ancient caravans tract originated at Sian,
followed the great wall of china to the north-west, by passed
the Takla Makan desert, rose over the Pamir’s mountains,
crossed Afghanistan and went on the Levant: from there silk
and spices were shipped across the Mediterranean. Once
closed during the sixth century, the highway was opened
again by the Venetian traveler, Marco polo, who journeyed
through this route in the thirteenth century to reach Asian
lands. This route was known as silk route.
The first evidence of the silk trade is the finding of silk in the
hair of an Egyptian mummy of the 21st dynasty, c.1070 BC.
Ultimately the silk trade reached as far as the Indian
subcontinent, the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa. This
trade was so extensive that the major set of trade routes
between Europe and Asia has become known as the Silk Road.
The Emperors of China strove to keep knowledge of
sericulture secret to maintain the Chinese monopoly.
Nonetheless sericulture reached Korea around 200 BC, about
the first half of the 1st century AD had reached ancient
Khotan, and by AD
300 the practice
had been
established in
India.

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India
In India silk culture is ancient. According t western historians,
mulberry culture spread to India by about 140B.C. from china
through Khotan: the cultivation of silk first began in the areas
flanking the rivers Brahmaputra and ganga. but many Indian
scholars says that domestication of silkworm, bombyx mori
originated somewhere at the foothold of the Himalayas. The
Aryans discovered the silkworm in the sub-Himalayas, beyond
Kashmir.
Even though mulberry culture may have come to India from
china, the reference in old scriptures point out that India had
cultivated some kind of wild silk independently of china. The
ancient scripture Rig-Veda mentions”urna”, generally
translated as a kind of silk. Another sacred law book
manusmriti refers to “cloth made of silk” and the great
ancient Indian epic Mahabharata to garment having a border
embroidered with pearls. There are allusion to the fabric in
the world famous epic Ramayana too. The wedding gifts of the
queen sita included, among other things,” fine silken
vestments of diverse colours”.again , king Yudhisthira
(Mahabharata) received cloths woven from “thread spun by
worms” as a gift from feudatory prices. All these reference
indicate the existence of silk in India in 2000 B.C.
Silk, known as Pattu or Reshmi in southern parts of India and
Resham in Hindi/Urdu (from Persian), has a long history in
India and is widely produced today. Historically silk was used
by the upper classes, while cotton was used by the poorer
classes. Today silk is mainly used in Bhoodhan Pochampally
(also known as Silk City), Kanchipuram, Dharmavaram,
Mysore, etc. in South India and Banaras in the North for
manufacturing garments and Saris.
"Murshidabad silk", famous from historical times, is mainly
produced in Malda and Murshidabad district of West Bengal
and woven with hand looms in Birbhum and Murshidabad
district. Another place famous for production of silk is
Bhagalpur. The silk from Kanchi is particularly well-known for
its classic designs and enduring quality. The silk is traditionally
hand-woven and hand-dyed and usually also has silver threads
woven into the cloth. Most of this silk is used to make saris.
The saris usually are very expensive and vibrant in color.
Garments made from silk form an integral part of Indian
weddings and other celebrations. In the northeastern state of
Assam, three different types of silk are produced, collectively
called Assam silk: Muga, Eri and Pat silk. Muga, the golden silk,
and Eri are produced by silkworms that are native only to
Assam. The heritage of silk rearing and weaving is very old and
continues today especially with the production of Muga and
Pat riha and mekhela chador, the three-piece silk saris woven
with traditional motifs. Mysore Silk Saris, which are known for
their soft texture, last many years if carefully maintained.

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Silk history with Murshidabad
Murshidabad is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal
and also the name of its headquarters. Named after Murshid
Quli Khan ,Diwan of Bengal in 18th
century. The city of
Murshidabad, on the Bhagirathi, was once famous as the
metropolis of the Subah Bangala, the eastern Mughal
province, and the usual residence of the nawabs of Bengal in
the eighteenth century. The city was reduced by the end of
the 18th century almost to its present size when first the
treasury and then the administrative headquarters of Bengal
were transferred to Calcutta.
A map of Murshidabad
Hazar Duari in the bank of river Bhagirathi
According to Ghulam Hussein, author of the RIYAZ-US-SALATIN, a
merchant named Makhsus Khan first improved the present
site of Murshidabad. A Makhsus Khan had been mentioned in
the AIN-I-AKBARI as a nobleman who served in Bengal and Bihar
during the last decades of the sixteenth century. He was
probably the brother of Said Khan governor of Bengal during
the reign of AKBAR. He built a rest house and surrounded it
with shops and the place was called after him Makhsudabad.
There is also mention of this place as 'Morasudabad' founded
by a Yavana (Muslim) in the Bhramanda section of the
Bhavisya Purana, which was probably composed in the late
sixteenth century. In Valentyn's map (1658-64) 'Moxudabath'
is shown on an island formed by the two branches of the
Ganges.

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During the 17th century this place became well known for silk
and silk textiles. As early as 1621 English agents reported that
huge quantities of silk could be obtained there. It continued to
grow in importance during the second half of the century and
eventually became a Mughal administrative station. During
the 1660's Murshidabad became a pargana headquarters and
its officers had jurisdiction over the European factories at
Cossimbazar.
Bengal had a nourishing silk industry in the past and
Murshidabad long enjoyed a special reputation in this respect.
The Bengal silk manufactures formed one of the important
exports of the English East India Company to England, and
these were exported also to the markets in the Asiatic
countries. After the establishment of English factories at
Malda and Cossimbazar, the English Company's trade in
Bengal silk manufactures began to increase, and their use
became common among the people in England because of
their good quality and cheapness. In the mid-eighteenth
century the country round about it (Cossimbazar) was very
fertile, and the inhabitants remarkably industrious, being
employed in many useful manufactures. About 1663 AD, the
Dutch in their Cossimbazar factory sometimes employed 700
silk weavers, and the English and the other European nation’s
smaller number. They generally furnished 22,000 bales of silk
a year, each bale weighing 100 Ibs. The Total was equivalent
to 30,078 mounds (1 mound = 40 Kg i.e. 12, 03,120 Kg). The
silk thread was thus distributed: the Dutch took for Japan or
Holland 6,000 to 7,000 bales, the merchants of Tartary and
the Mughal Empire about the same quantity, and the
remainder (about 9,000 bales) was consumed by the people of
the country for manufacturing their own stuff. This silk was
brought to Ahmadabad and Surat and was woven into fabrics.
There was considerable demand for Bengal's raw silk in
England's markets as the Continental System occasioned an
entire cessation of the customary importations of the Italian
raw silk.
After the battle of Palasy and still more after the acquisition of
the Diwani by the EAST INDIA COMPANY in 1765, apart from the
company's policy, the most important cause of the city's
decline was the effect of the Great Famine of 1769-70. A most
destructive calamity over the greater part of north Bengal, the
famine took its greatest toll on the population of Murshidabad
and its manufactures. Those who survived were incapable of
industry for a considerable time. From government inquiries it
could be seen that the silk manufacture of Murshidabad
declined after the famine as the weavers, industrial artisans
and laborers died in large numbers. Even two years after the
famine Murshidabad gave the impression of a deserted city
and had no proper defense against its consequences. This did
not escape the notice of the members of the Committee of
Circuit who visited Murshidabad in the middle of 1772 and it

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greatly influenced their decision for a move of the Khalsa
(treasury) to Calcutta.
At present In Bengal Malda is a mega sericulture district,
second Murshidabad , third Birbhum, other Nadia ,Bakura.
Summery
Mohammedan moors & merchants carried Indian silk &
Spices to Europe, Africa and many Asian lands from time
immemorial.
Indian silk trade began with the east India Company.
Cossimbazar in Murshidabad district of West Bengal became
the hub of silk industry during earlier to mid 17th
century.
‘Diwani ‘ was left to East India Company after “ Great war of
Plassey” in 1757. “Traders become the rulers’.
While sericulture declined in Bengal, Kashmir and Mysore
tried to develop it, ‘Tipu’ sent a native of Tiruchirapally to
Bengal to learn “ Sericulture and silk trade” between 1780
and 1790. He introduced Sericulture at Mysore.
At the same time, James Anderson, the Physician General of
east India company imported silkworm successfully to
southern India from Bengal in December 1790.

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Silk
The silk fiber is a continuous protein filament produced by the
silkworm. The silkworm extrudes the liquid fiber from the two
excretory canals of sericteries which unite in the spinneret in
its head, each of them termed as brin.
The two brin cemented together in the spinneret by
seicin become a single continuous fiver called bave or
filament. The seric brave is thus made by the union of two
brins held together by sericin.
The length of the continuous filament of the cocoon varies
from 350m-400min multivoltine and 600-1200m in Bivoltine.
The longitudinal structure of silk filament is tapering and
varies from 4-1 denier. The filament from the outer cocoon
shell is of 4 denier and the denier decreases down to 1 denier
in the filaments of inner shell of the cocoon.
Silk filament is triangular in cross-section and so reflects light
like a prism. Layer of protein imparts sheen, making silk a
luxurious sensuous fabric.
Types of Silk
India is the only country producing commercially available
four varieties of silk i.e., mulberry, tasar, eri and muga. The
production contribution (1989-90) of these varieties of silk is
as follows:
Mulberry - (10,900 tons) -90.7%
Tasar - (465 tons) -3.9%
Eri - 590 tons -4.9%
Muga - 259 tons -0.5%
Except mulberry, other varieties of silks are generally termed
as non-mulberry silks. India has the unique distinction of
producing all these commercial varieties of silk.
Mulberry: The bulk of the commercial silk produced in the
world comes from this variety and often silk generally refers
to mulberry silk. Mulberry silk comes from the silkworm,
Bombyx mori L. which solely feeds on the leaves of mulberry
plant. These silkworms are completely domesticated and
reared indoors. In India, the major mulberry silk producing
states are Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil
Nadu and Jammu & Kashmir which together accounts for 92 %
of country's total mulberry raw silk production.
Mulberry
silk worm

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Tasar: Tasar (Tussah) is
copperish colour, coarse silk
mainly used for furnishings
and interiors. It is less
lustrous than mulberry silk,
but has its own feel and
appeal. Tasar silk is
generated by the silkworm,
Antheraea mylitta which
mainly thrive on the food
plants Asan and Arjun. Tasar silkworm
The rearings are conducted in nature on the trees in the
open. In India, tasar silk is mainly produced in the states of
Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Orissa, besides Maharashtra, West
Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Tasar culture is the main stay for
many a tribal community in India.
Oak Tasar: It is a finer variety of tasar generated by the
silkworm, Antheraea proyeli J. in India which feed on natural
food plants of oak, found in abundance in the sub-Himalayan
belt of India covering the states of Manipur, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu &
Kashmir. China is the major producer of oak tasar in the world
and this comes from another silkworm which is known as
Antheraea pernyi.
Eri silk worm
Eri: Also known as Endi or Errandi, Eri is a multivoltine silk
spun from open-ended cocoons, unlike other varieties of silk.
Eri silk is the product of the domesticated silkworm,
Philosamia ricini that feeds mainly on castor leaves. Ericulture
is a household activity practiced mainly for protein rich pupae,
a delicacy for the tribal. Resultantly, the eri cocoons are open-
mouthed and are spun. The silk is used indigenously for
preparation of chaddars (wraps) for own use by these tribals.
In India, this culture is practiced mainly in the north-eastern
states and Assam. It is also found in Bihar, West Bengal and
Orissa.
Muga: This golden yellow colour silk is prerogative of India
and the pride of Assam state. It is obtained from semi-
domesticated multivoltine silkworm, Antheraea assamensis.
These silkworms feed on the aromatic leaves of Som and

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Soalu plants and are reared on trees similar to that of tasar.
Muga culture is specific to the state of Assam and an integral
part of the tradition and culture of that state. The muga silk,
an high value product is used in products like sarees,
mekhalas, chaddars, etc.
Main four silk worms
In murshidabad mainly mulberry is produced, hence we will
concentrate on mulberry silk only.
Mulberry silk
The silk of Bombyx Mori is composed of two protein substance
namely fibroin and sericin. It also contains small quantity of
other matters like fatty, waxy, coloring and minerals. Fibroin
constitutes 70%-80% of the weight; sericin encloses the fibroin
in a continuous sheath, accounting for 20-30% of the weight;
the fatty, waxy, coloring and mineral matters from a very
small part of the silk, not exceeding 2-3%.
Bivoltine is commercially grown in Himalayan foothill (low
temperature). Multivoltine and Multi-Bivoltine are mainly
grown in Murshidabad, and less of Bivoltine.
Bivoltine silkworm yields good quality of silk cocoons, but low
resistance to climatic conditions.
Multi -voltine silkworms can be grown in high temperature
and high humidity. Another traditional silk worm Nistari has
good resistance towards the climatic condition.

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Physical properties of silk
 Microscopy of silk fiber
The cross sectional view of a cocoon filament of
Bombyx mori is roughly elliptical, showing the two
triangular brins completely surrounded by sericin
normally facing each other with the flat side of the
triangle. The longitudinal view shows a very irregular
surface structure mostly in the sericin layer, which
consist of traverse fissures, creases, folds and uneven
lumps.
The longitudinal view of the degummed fiber shows a
smooth, structure less, translucent filament with
occasional constrictions as well as swellings or lumps.
 Hygroscopic nature
Silk is highly hygroscopic. Silk has a regain of 11% at
65% and 7 C temperatures. Degummed silk is less
hygroscopic, since sericin has a greater power of
absorbing moisture than the fiber proper. The regain
of degummed silk is regarded as about 9.25% at
standard atmospheric condition. A temperature of 1 0
C is adopted for conditioning of silk as it is found to be
difficult to dry the fiber completely at 110 C or 1 0 C.
 Tensile strength
The tenacity of mulberry silk is in the range of 3.0-4.5
grams per denier, and has an elongation of 18-22%.
 Electrical properties
Silk is a poor conductor of electricity and accumulate
static charge by friction, which at times render it
difficulty to handle in manufacturing process. The
charge can be dissipated by high humidity.
Chemical property of silk
 Action of heat
Silk will stand a higher temperature without injury or
danger of decomposi on. It can be heated up to 1 0
C. at 170 C, however it is rapidly disintegrated. On
burning it liberates an odor similar to burning of hair.
 Action of acid
Silk readily absorbers diluted acids from solution and in
so doing increases in luster and acquires the ‘scroop’-
which is a characteristic crackling sound emitted when
the fiber is squeezed or pressed. Silk protein like wool,
can be decomposed by strong mineral acids.
Concentrated sulfuric and hydrochloric acids dissolve
silk and nitric acid colors silk yellow.

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 Action of alkalis
Silk is not sensitive to dilute alkalis as wool, but the
luster of the fiber is somewhat diminished. When
treated with strong hot caustic alkalis, the silk fiber
dissolves. Ammonia and soaps have no effect on silk
beyond dissolving the sericin, though on long
continued boiling in soap, the fibroin is also attacked.
 Effect of organic solvents
Cleaning solvents and spot removing agents like
carbon tetrachloride, Triethanolamine, acetone etc, do
not damage silk.
 Effect of sunlight
Sunlight tends to accelerate the decomposition of silk.
It increases oxidation and results in fiber degradation
and destruction.
Washing and drying property of silk
Colored silk are washing in the same way as white silks using
neutral soap in lukewarm water. A small quantity of vinegar or
citric acid should be used in the last rise to revive the
freshness of the color.
Silk with doubtful colors should be steeped from one or two
minutes in cold water with a small quantity of vinegar or a few
drops of acetic acid. Then the material should be washed
quickly in lukewarm water followed by several rinsing in
different water. In case of color bleeding , citric acid or acetic
acid should be used in all the rinsing water, the material
should be partly dried (semi dry) by hanging in shade or
indoors and ironed on wrong side of the material . However,
dry cleaning is advisable for unstable colors.

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Sericulture
Sericulture is an agro-based industry. It involves rearing of
silkworms for the production of raw silk, which is the yarn
obtained out of cocoons spun by certain species of insects.
The major activities of sericulture comprises of food-plant
cultivation to feed the silkworms which spin silk cocoons and
reeling the cocoons for unwinding the silk filament for value
added benefits such as processing and weaving.
The Sericulture is recognized as one of the most promising and
an ideally suited Industry to the rural socio-economies
developments providing employment opportunities with
minimum investment and profitable return within a short
gestation period. Being a labour intensive rural based Industry
it offers a qualitative and quantitative change in the poverty
alleviation with a chain creation of employment from unskilled
farm labourer to skill artisans to all sections especially women
folk. It will generate income for people living below the
poverty line in the rural masses particularly for women.
Mulberry cultivation
One of the important raw materials for silk production is the
leaves of a mulberry plant also known as toot.
Mulberry, the basic diet of the silk caterpillar claims almost 60
percent in silk production cost. An ouce of silkworm eggs
yields 25-30 kgs of cocoons. The metamorphic process from
egg to larva to cocoon needs a ton of mulberry leaves. A
mulberry land hectare can produce 15-40 tons of foliage
depending on agro-climatic condition.
The silkworm diet is prepared through cultivation, harvesting,
cutting and chopping leaves renders sericulture a highly
labour absorbing occupation.
Cut stems are planted for mulberry plant propagation
Mulberry plants ready for harvesting

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Life cycle of Silkworm
In India where the temperature ranges from 160
C to
310
C, The silkworm Bombyx mori are reared
throughout the year.
The total life span of this silkworm is 50 days, out of
this egg stage is 10 days, larval stage is 25-30 days
and the pupa stage is 10 days. It passes 4 moults
and 5 instars during growth. Moult is the stage
when the silkworm stop eating. At the end of the
larval duration, the silkworm emits silk from its
mouth and constructs a cocoon on scaffolding.

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Grainage
Grainage are establishments where disease-free and quality
eggs are produced on scientific line. These eggs are used for
production of commercial cocoons.
Selection: In order to produce good quality and healthy
eggs the seed cocoons used for the purpose must be of high
quality and in good health, and therefore the seed cocoons
arriving at the grainages are subjected to rigid selection. In
selecting the lots of seed cocoons, past history such as the
source of seed, progress of crop, yield of cocoons and other
qualitative characters are taken into account. Sound and
uniform cocoons are selected and the defected ones are
rejected.
Moth emergence: The selected seed cocoons should be
preserved in well-ventilated room and spread out in thin
layers on cocoons trays arranged on stands. The temperature
and humidity in the room should also be maintained as far as
possible at op mum level ( - 5 C) for uniform development
of the pupae into moths and consequent uniform emergence
of healthy moth from the seed cocoon.
Emergence of moth
Emergence of moth occurs early in the morning, often, to
ensure more uniform and simultaneous emergence of moths,
the rooms housing the seed cocoons are kept dark and
suddenly lights are put on so that moths emerge all at once.
This is done two hour prior to picking of the moths for mating
purpose.

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Moths have a tendency to pair immediately and, therefore,
the female moths required to copulate with the male moths
are allowed their mates for copulation.
Mating and egg laying
The moths lay 400-500eggs in the case of univoltine and
bivoltine races and 300-400 in the case of multivoltine race on
average.
Moth examination
After the eggs are laid the female moth is examined under
microscope to see if the moth is free from disease (pebrin) or
not.
Silkworm egg
Silkworm eggs can en is divided into hibernating and non-
hibernating eggs.
In hibernating eggs the embryo develops only half-way,
undergoes a stage of dormancy called diapauses, and hatches
out the following spring. In non-hibernating eggs, the embryo
develops without undergoing diapauses and hatches out in
the normal way. Under fixed environmental conditions, this
characteristic depend upon the hereditary factor of the
silkworms namely whether the egg produced is hibernating or
not.
Hibernating eggs non hibernating eggs

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Silkworm laying hibernating eggs in spring, which do not hatch
out till the following spring, so producing only one generation
in a year, are called univoltines. When the first generation of
moths lays non-hibernating eggs and the second generation
lays hibernating eggs which hatch out only in the following
spring so that there are two generation in a year, then such
silkworm are known as bivoltines. Silkworms which lay non-
hibernating eggs and so are able to produced many
generations in a year are called multivoltiens.
Generally univoltine silkworms lay only hibernating eggs and
multivoltine races lay only non-hibernating eggs while the
behavior of the egg of the bivoltines is intermediate. Eggs of
multivoltines do not normally hibernate, and hatch in eight to
ten days, while the univoltine and bivoltine races lay
hibernating eggs, which require special treatment to make
them hatch. Thus silkworms are classified as univoltine,
bivoltine, and multivoltine.
Artificial hatching
The common method of acid treatment is to subject the
freshly laid hybrid eggs within 20-24 hours of laying to
hydrochloric acid which stops the eggs from entering into
diapauses. This made the eggs hatch in 10days.
Chilling
If hatching is delayed for more than 30 days, acid treatment
can be carried out only after chilling ( rst in 5 C for 0- 5
hour and then at 5 C for 40-60 days). This is known as acid
treatment after chilling.
Low cost acid treatment bath

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Incubation
Incubation of silkworm eggs aims at uniform development of
the embryo there securing uniform hatching through proper
maintenance of environmental conditions. In addition, the
condition of incubation greatly influence the influence the
voltinism character of egg in the succeeding generation and
also the larval growth and the success of the cocoon crop itself
including cocoon quality. Therefore, the eggs after the
necessary cold preservation treatment and acid treatment for
artificial hatching should be subjected to ideal incubation
conditions.
Egg
card
Optimum humidity in the incubation room is 80-85 %.
Optimum temperature for the incubation of non- hibernating
eggs and eggs after acid treatment for immediate hatching is
- 5 C right from the beginning.
Towards the end of the incubation period at the blue spot or
eye spot stage, the eye are kept in dark boxes or placed so
that their hatching can be more uniform on the next day.
Matured egg
Incubation pot

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Hatching and brushing
Brushing
Hatching of silk worms generally starts in the morning. The
process of transferring the silkworms to rearing trays is called
Brushing. The card with the newly hatched worms are placed
in the rearing trays or boxes and tender mulberry leaves cut
into 0.5 squares are sprinkled over the egg card. Later the egg
card is removed and the worms remain on the tray.
1st
instars
2nd
instars
3rd
instars
Chowki Rearing
 Rearing of 1st
, 2nd, and 3rd instars silkworms under,
hygienic condition is known as Chowki rearing.
 Silk worm’s larva is generally fed in four times per day,
5-6am, 11am, 4pm, 9-10pm.
 Leaves of mulberry are harvested only after 50-60 days
from sprouting. And harvested in cooler hours.
 Leaves are covered with wet gummy cloth.

21
 Worms are kept in the paraffin paper in the rearing tray and in
all the four side wet sponge is placed to increase the relative
humidity, if low.
Mulberry leave separation for feeding
Mulberry leave storage
Rearing tray and stand
Rearing house

22
4th
instars
5th
instars
Late age Rearing
 The Rearing of 4th
& 5th
instars larva, under healthy and
hygienic condition is known as Late age Rearing.
Symptoms of spinning
 The body of matured worm shrinks and becomes
transparent because of the full development of silk
gland and their litter becomes soft. It is then placed in
Chandraki.
 Cocoons should be harvested on 5th
day in multivoltine
and 7th
-8th
day in bivoltine.
Spinning of silk worm

23
Stages of spinning and formation of cocoon The matured larvae are placed on the
chandraki, where it forms cocoon

24
Physical characteristics of cocoons
Color: Presence of pigment causes color. The color of the
cocoon is not influenced by environment and cultivation.
Commercially, brightness is value because dried cocoon
having been badly stored or of being too old. There are a
variety of shades/tints of cocoon color, for example white,
yellow, yellowish green, golden yellowed.
Multivoltine Bivoltine Multi-Bivoltine
Shape: The common shape of the bombyx mori cocoon is
spherical, oval and dumb bell; pointed cocoons are found
rarely. The dumb bell shaped cocoon has a central
contraction. Pronounced contraction may be a serious
obstacle in reeling the bave. Pointed cocoons may have a
point at one end only or at both ends. If the point is too
accentuated, there is a risk of the cocoon being broken open
during brushing.
Size: The dimensions and consequently the volume of the
cocoon vary very greatly from breed to breed. It is greatly
influenced by the cultivation, climatic condition and amount
of feed available.
Grain: The wrinkling and irregularities of the surface of the
cocoon is termed grain. Grain may be
coarse or fine depending on the
intensity of the wrinkling. These
conditions are greatly influenced by
the cultivation, climatic condition and
the amount of feed available.
Grains in cocoon
Cocoon weight: The cocoon weight shows a continuous
loss of weight from the time of its completion till the
emergence of the moth because of loss of moisture.
The average weight of the cocoon, like most of its other
commercial characteristics, varies considerably in any single
race depending on its cultivation and the condition of rearing.
Uniformity of the cocoon weight is important because it has
impact on the uniform behavior in the process of reeling. The
single cocoon weight of multivoltine cocoon is in the range of
1.1 to 1.4g and that of bivoltine cocoons is in the range of 1.6
to 1.8g.

25
Shell weight: The shell weight is more important than the
cocoon weight since it is the shell that yields the silk for
reeling. Thus, higher the weight of the shell, greater will be
the silk yield from it. In Indian multivoltine hybrid cocoons the
shell weight is in the range of 0.15-0.25g and bivoltine cocoon
shell weighs in the range of 0.3-0.5g.
Shell percentage: It is the ratio between the weight of the
silk shell and the cocoon weight expressed as a percentage.
Shell percentage= (weight of the cocoon shell/weight of the
whole cocoon) X 100
Shell percentage fairly indicates the quality of raw silk that can
be reeled from the cocoons and also helps in estimating
renditta and thereby fixing a proper price for the cocoons. The
shell percentage of Indian multivoltine hybrid ranges from 13
to 17% and that of bivoltine hybrid from 18-23%.
Filament length: It is the total length of the reelable silk
bave in the cocoon. In Indian multivoltine hybrid cocoon
contain from 350m to 650m of filament whereas bivoltine
hybrids have filament length of 800m to 1200m.
Non breakable filament length: It is the average length
of filament that can be unwound from the cocoon without
break. Average non-breakable filament length= total filament
length/ 1+no. of breaks
Filament denier: Denier is the weight in grams of 9000m of
yarn/filament. Normally the denier (size) of the bave is higher
at the outer layers of the cocoon filament varies from 1.7 to
2.8
Denier = (weight in gram of filament /length in meter of
filament) X 9000
(Filament length and filament denier are determined during
single cocoon reeling test, by using epprouvette and denier
scale).
Floss percentage: Floss is an entangled loose filament
around the cocoon shell and it is unreelable. Generally floss
percentage (8-12%) as compared to bivoltine cocoon (2-5%).
Raw silk percentage: Percentage of raw silk reeled on
cocoon weight or shell weight is called raw silk percentage.
Raw silk percentage= (weight of raw silk reeled/weight of
cocoon or shell) X100

26
Renditta and price fixation of cocoons
Renditta: The number of kilograms of cocoon required to
obtain one kilogram of reeled silk is called renditta. Renditta
of multivoltine and bivoltine cocoons (on fresh weight) is in
the order of 8-14 and 6-8 respectively depend upon the races.
Higher shell percentage results in better renditta/raw silk
percentage and thus cocoon quality is better.
Estimated renditta=constant/Actual shell percentage of
the cocoon lot
From a lot (normally of 50Kg. cocoon) select randomly 100
normal cocoons and assess the percentage of the shell.
Shell percentage= (weight of 100shells/weight of 100cocoons)
X 100
Kakame cost =
price of raw silk+ income from by product – (cost of
manufacture + profit expected)
Cost of cocoon per g. = Kakame cost/ calculated renditta.
Mulberry cocoons
There are two types of mulberry cocoons in India viz.,
multivoltine (91%) and bivoltine (9%). Multivoltine cocoons
are flimsy /flossy with shorter filament length and shell
percentage is lower in the order of 13-17% and raw silk
percentage in the range of 7-10%, whereas bivoltine cocoons
are compact with longer filament and shell percentage is
higher in the order of 18-23% and raw silk percentage in the
range of 11-15%.
Cocoon testing
 Cocoon assessment
It is not compulsory but occasionally done. 100g fresh
cocoon (about 50-60 fresh cocoons
0 are randomly taken. Cocoon is cut individually by a
very simple cutting device. There is a circular disc on
which a number of holes are provided to hold
individual cocoon.
Projected cocoon end is cut by the blade which is fixed
to a movable arm and weighment of shell is made for
assessing the shell percentage.
Shell percentage= (shell weight /cocoon weight) X100

27
 Cocoon drying
The test samples cocoons so received are subjected to
drying .Batch type drying units are usually used in all
the cocoon testing units. Cocoons are subjected at 110
degrees C for about 4 ½ hours and temperature is
gradually reduced from 110-65 degree C by a
thermostatic control device.
 Sorting
Dried cocoons are sorted out for removing defective
cocoon is entered. Percentage of defective cocoons is
worked out on the basis of weight/number.
Various defective cocoons
1. Insect eaten(maggots eaten)
2. Inside stained(melted cocoon)
3. Outside stained(urinated cocoon)
4. Thin ends
5. Flimsy cocoon
6. Scaffolding marks in mounting
7. De shaped(abnormal shaped) or malformed
8. Flossy (shells loose and floss is more, grains are not
developed).
9. Mould attacked cocoon
10. Doubles cocoon
11. Pierced cocoon
Urinated cocoons Double cocoons
Flossy cocoons Uzi cut cocoons
Total defective cocoon percentage is 0.5-1%. There are
standard photographs of various defective cocoons in
each cocoon testing station. On seeing the
photographs, sorters classify the defective cocoons in a
lot. Double and insect eaten cocoons are all completely
eliminated from lest reeling lot.

28
Silkworm disease
 Gasari disease (Rosa) in summers – the silkworm
swells.
 Maska diseases (chura Kati)-fungal attack –in low
temperature.
 Gattine (solpa)
 Pebrin –Defect in eggs, moth examination is done. If
infection is found in the eggs then the whole lot is
rejected as it will infect other silkworms in the area.
Process flow chart of mulberry silk reeling:-
Cocoon testing
Stifling/drying
-sun drying
-steam drying
-hot air drying
Sorting
(To discard defective cocoons which are unfit for Reeling)
Cooking
(To soften sericin in plain water)
-open pan/single pan system
-Three pan system
-pressurized cocoon boiling
Brushing/deflossing
-hand brushing
-mechanical brushing
Reeling (wet)
(To produce raw silk thread)
-floating system of reeling
-sunken system of reeling
Re-reeling (for standard size hank0
Skeinning
Book making and bailing
Testing
Marketing

29
Stifling/Drying
The purpose of stifling is to kill the pupa inside the cocoon to
avoid its emergence as a moth and thereby preserving the
continuity of the filament. Secondly, this operation enables
the cocoons to get dried so that the cocoons can be stored for
a long period. There are different methods of stifling namely,
a) Sun drying
b) Steam stifling
c) Hot air drying
d) Other methods of drying.
Sum drying
In sun, the pupae is killed by prolonged exposure (2-3days
depending upon the intensity of sun light) of freshly harvested
cocoons to hot sun. Though this method is simple and cheap,
it is not advisable to sun dry the cocoon, since the cocoon
shell hardens thereby affecting the reeliblity. It is practiced in
Jammu & Kashmir and west Bengal in India. Sun drying
Steam stifling
In this process, the pupa in the cocoon is killed by exposing
the fresh cocoons to the direct action of steam for a short
time of 25minutes. This method is practiced in south India.
There are two methods of steam stifling
 Basket steaming
In small reeling establishments which handle only small
qualities of cocoon at a time, fresh cocoon are stifled by
this method .about 10-15kgs. Fresh cocoon are filled in a
bamboo basket in which, the sides are closely woven but
the bottom is loosely woven. A thick wet cloth is then
tightly wrapped over the top of the basket and tied at the
sides leaving the bottom free. The basket thus filled with
cocoons is placed over the mouth of a vessel in which
water is boiling. Sometimes the reeling basin itself is used
for this purpose. The steam from the vessel below soon
fills the basket and kills the pupa inside the cocoons till it
feels dry. This system is in practice in charkha and cottage
basin establishments.
 Chamber steaming
This process makes use of specially designed and
conveniently large sized chambers. These chambers are
internally provided with perforated steam pipes. In some
types, shelves for keeping the fresh cocoons are spread in

30
thin layers and subjected to steam for about 15 minutes.
This system is in practice in big filatures where boiler has
been installed.
Hot air drying chamber
Hot air drying
In this method the fresh cocoon are dried by means of hot air.
Hot air stifling is suitable for good quality cocoons such as
bivoltine and this process facilitates complete drying of
cocoon thus enabling to store the cocoons for a long time.
There are two principle of hot air stifling:
 Italian type
The cocoons are first subjected to low temperature
(about 50 degree C) and then gradually, they are
subjected to high temperature (about 100 degree C)
for 3-4 hours.
 Japanese type
The cocoons are first subjected to high temperature
(about 100 degree C) and then gradually, they are
subjected to low temperature (about 50 degree C).
Other methods of drying
This includes, use of infrared rays, cold air killing, use of
poisonous gases, etc.
Storage of cocoon
Storage of cocoons is very important especially when the
stifled cocoons have to be stored for a very long time. The
stored racks should be kept in well ventilated room and the
cocoons have to be placed in thin layers on shelves taking care
to see that there is proper aeration. Storage racks have to be
placed above ant wells. Since the dried pupae inside the
cocoons have protenious matter, unless the cocoons are fully
dried and preserved properly, certain dermesitides/insects will
attack the pupae and thereby damage the cocoons. The
humidity of the storage room should not exceed 70% and the
temperature should be about 27 degree C.

31
Cocoons are stored in wooden almiras with proper ventilation
and Ant wells
Cocoon cooking
The object of cocoon cooking is to soften the sericin so that
cocoon shell is loosened enabling the filament to be wound
smoothly. The different methods of cooking are:-
 Open pan
Cooking is for 3-5 min. at boiling temperature. This is
done to soften the sericin of the cocoon.
 Three pan
It is high -low-high cooking, (90-92)-(60-65)-(90-92)
degree C. This is done for high compact cocoons for
better cooking of the inner shell.
Open-pan
 Pressurized cocoon boiling
This is done for penetration of water into the cocoons
(bivoltines) for better reeling.
Pressurized cooking

32
The general sequence of conveyor cooking is as
follows:
Pre-treatment (soaking in hot water (1-2 min. 40-60
degree C)
Permeation I (high temp. part) hot water (1-2 min. 70-
80 degree C)
Permeation II (low temp. part) hot water (2-3 min. 60-
75 degree C)
Steam cooking part. (90-95-98-99) pressure of water
head 5-10 mm for 3 min.
Adjustment part hot water (98-95-85-70)
Finishing part hot water (1-2min. 65-55 degree C)
Transporting part hot water (1.5 min. 30-40 degree C)
Transport to reeling section.
Brushing/ Deflossing
The object of brushing is to remove the floss in order to get
the true end of the filament. There are two method of
brushing, namely,
 Hand brushing
In hand brushing, the cocoons are
handled with a ladle, which help in sufficiently softening the
cocoon layers. Later, a group of cocoon will be brushed by
means of a stick tied in the form of a broom for end picking.
 Mechanical brushing
In mechanical brushing, the brushes are held by brackets.
During cooking of cocoon, the brush is lowered into the basin
which makes fairly brisk clock wise and anti clock wise rotary
movement with ¾ of a turn in each direction alternately. After
a definite of movements, the
brush is lifted either
automatically or manually.
The true end of the cocoons
will be easily drawn out by
this method of brushing.

33
Reeling
Since nature has already spun a long continuous silk filament
(fiber), there is no further spinning to prepare yarn as in the
case of other natural fibers, except that the individual long
filaments are combined together after unwinding them from
the cocoons and winding the resultant yarn on to a convenient
device. This process is called silk reeling. Silk reeling is simply
the unwinding of filaments from a group of cocoons in hot
water bath on to a reel. In silk reeling 6-8 cocoons are taken
and their filaments are combined together to make one yarn.
This yarn can be as long as 300-800m.
Methods of reeling
Silk reeling can be broadly classified under two methods
popularly known as:
 Direct reeling method on standard reels.
 Indirect method which includes reeling on small sized
reels and transferring the reeled silk directly silk
directly from these reels to standard sized reels on re-
reeling machines.
System of reeling
There are two systems of reeling of cocoons:
 Floating system
In floating system, the cocoons are cooked only to the
extent the shell becomes wet, but is still impervious to
water, so that they float in water when the cooked
cocoons are put into the reeling basin. Floating system
is associated with:
1. Reeling of cooked cocoons which float in
reeling basin.
2. High speed reeling
3. High basin temperature
4. Less number of reeling ends.
 Sunken system of reeling
In this system, the cooked cocoons sink in water at the
time of reeling. In this system, not only the shell is
cooked but in the process, the cocoon also gets filled
with water inside to the extent of 97-98%, with the
result, the cocoon becomes heavy and sinks in the
reeling water. This system of reeling is associated with:
1. Reeling of cooked cocoons which sink under
water in reeling basin
2. Slow speed reeling
3. Low basin temperature reeling
4. Large number of reeling ends.
This system is suitable for superior quality
cocoons like bivoltine.

34
Croissure
Croissure is a mechanism of inter twining or crossing of two
threads or one thread itself, by twisting the threads in a series
of spirals during its passage from the threader to the reel. The
functions of croissure are:
 To squeeze out excess water contained in the filament
passing through it.
 To knead the group of filaments passing through the
spiral to form a round, smooth and compact thread
firmly agglutinated with an even coating of sericin.
 The thread becomes more cohesive as the filaments
are attached more firmly by the croissure.
 Thread becomes cleaner as many defect s are
eliminated. Weak and defective portions can be
discarded when they break under croissure tension.
There are two types of croissure:
 Chambon- used in charkha
In chamdon type, the two groups of thread coming out
of the thread guides of the reeling basin are inter
twined over each other in a few spirals and the loose
ends are attached to the reel after being taken through
the distribution guides. This is popular in charkha
reeling. It is a simple technique but suffers from
serious draw backs such as interdependence of threads
drawn from separate ends for croissure effect,
formation of double ends, less tension as compared to
tavellette type and the restriction imposed on the
reeling ends.
 Tavellette –used in cottage basin and filature
basin(Italian type)
In the tavellete type, the thread coming out of the
thread guide passes over three small pulleys called
croissure pulleys. This type is adopted in modern
methods of reeling. There is sufficient uniform tension
in this system.

35
Silk reeling
There are two types of silk yarns produced in murshidabad
namely, raw silk or reeled silk comprising major quantity and
spun silk yarn. Raw silk yarns are comparable to filament yarn
and the spun silk yarns are comparable to staple yarn in the
world of synthetic textile. Both types of yarns (raw silk and
spun silk) are produced in mulberry, tasar and muga, whereas
eri cocoon is only meant for spun yarn.
In murshidabad, mainly mulberry silk is produced and less of
tassar silk.
Mulberry silk reeling
Silk reeling is yet to be modernized in India, whereas in
sericulturally advanced countries like Japan, very sophisticated
reeling process is adopted and the reeling units are installed
with automatic reeling machines. In India, there are three
distinct reeling devices in mulberry sector namely
 Charkha- a crude system of reeling
 Cottage basin system-improved over charkha
 Multiend basin system
 Automatic reeling technique-suitable for bivoltine.
Charkha
In murshidabad mainly charkha is dominating in silk reeling
industry is that bulk of raw silk produced is used in the
handloom industry wherein the cost factor of the raw material
has to be kept low to enable the rate of the finished product
saleable.
Secondly, the establishment of charkha unit dose not needs
any big investment or special skill. This enables charkha silk to
be sold at a minimum price which is very much wanted by the
handloom industry.
Thirdly, inferior quality multivoltine and defective cocoons
available at lower prices can be reeled more economically on
charkha available at lower price can be reeled more
economically on charkha than on cottage basin or multiend
basins.
The charkha reeling system is an Italian version or floating
system of reeling. This version of reeling will improve the
reelability of inferior and defective cocoons with out
considering the quality of silk.

36
Cottage basin
This reeling device is an improved version over charkha and it
is indigenously designed on the principle of Japanese multiend
reeling machine. Here cocoon cooking is done separately in a
boiling water basin and reeling is done in a hot water basin.
Each basin has 6 ends and each thread is first passed through
a button to clean the slubs,waste etc. later on , it is
independently passed through a tavellette type of croissure,
the thread passes through a traverse guide and finally on to a
small reel.
Re-reeling is done to prepare standard sized hank from small
reels. So, the quality of silk is superior to charkha silk. But,
cottage basin is generally hand driven and alignment of the
basin is not sufficiently perfect. As a result production of
superior quality silk conforming to international standard is
not possible.
Multi end reeling basin
This reeling device is a further improved version over the
cottage basin and it is power driven. Boilers are installed for
cooking and reeling purpose and for cocoon stifling hot air
drying method are used. In multiend basin, there are some
additional attachments such as Jettboute which picks up the
filaments to increase the efficiency of cocoon feeding. This
distribution is further improved so that the over all working
efficiency of the basin is
enhanced. Normally, each
basin consists 10 ends.
Multi end reeling
machine

37
Automatic reeling
Automatic reeling machine
The automatic reeling technique has as its components
pressurized cocoon boiling machine, automatic cocoon feeder
and a mechanical brushing unit. In addition, it is equipped
with automatic denier control denier control device, where in
human error in maintain the uniformity of denier is avoid to a
large extent and thereby ensuring minimum size deviation.
Ghosh basin
Ghosh Basin (CSRTI improved)
This basin is the combination of charkha and cottage basin.
This maintains the basin temperature at boiling point for
cooking and at lower temperature (40 degree C) for reeling.
Reeled silk

38
Re-reeling
Re-reeling is done to transfer the raw silk into standard sized
hanks. The grant reeling helps in finding of broken ends of the
thread and also its knotting. Re-reeling speed is almost double
the reeling speed. So one end re-reeling will be enough to take
the input of two end reeling.
Re-reeling machine
Skeinning
The standard sized hanks are carefully examined for defects if
any. Then it is laced and folded upon itself to form a skein .the
weight of the skeins varies from 50g to more than 100g. The
skeins of raw silk are then made into books and bales to be
marketed later. Skeinning process

39
Skein of reeled silk
A book ready for sale
Doupion silk reeling
Double cocoons are used for the production of doupion silk.
Doupion silk is reeled on charkha and cottage basin at high
temperature, maintaining one to two ends without croissure.
Generally, the denier of doupion silk ranges from 100-300.
Indian doupion has good demand because of distinct slub
effect. Doupion silk is used in dress materials, furnishing
fabrics and upholstery. It has a great potential for export.
Double cocoons

40
Seri plan board winder
Silk testing
Evenness, cleanness and neatness test
Evenness (CV %)
This is a measure for the variations in the yarn cross-section
over lengths up to approximately 20m. The instrument traces
out short term denier deviations (evenness change degree0
which in the routine size test, are not determined.
Evenness board
Cleanness
In this category, thick placed are counted, which, according to
their mass, overstep the normal yarn cross-section by 35
percent or more. A subdivision is made with respect to “short
place” ( to 0mm) and “long places” (more than 30mm
length).
 Neatness (neps)
The neatness indicates the frequency of short yarn lengths
(maximum 3mm) which, according to their mass, overstep the
normal yarn cross-section by more than 50 percent. In other
words, neatness refers to faults which, as far the naked eye is
concerned, are considered as neps.

41
Tenacity and elongation test
The unique synthesis of strength and fineness make silk very
useful in certain important sectors, such as surgical field and
fabrication of precision equipments. Silk fiber is also highly
extensible. Therefore, the determination of strength and
elongation of raw silk is an important test. Breaking load i.e.,
Seri graph
The load the thread can withstand just when it breaks, is
expressed in terms of grams per Tex or per denier and is
known as tenacity.
The tenacity and elongation test is carried out on the
serigraph strength tester or the serimeter. The tester works
on the principal of constant rate of traverse, pendulum type of
yarn strength testing machine, graduated in grams and
capable of elongation of the threads. Normally, the tenacity
and elongation percentage of mulberry raw silk are in the
range of 3.5-4.5g/d and 18-22% respectively.
Tenacity shall be expressed in gram per denier per denier as
calculated by the following formula:
Tenacity in g per denier= Z/nXd
Where
Z= breaking load in g of test skein,
N=number of strands tensioned and
D= denier of test skein
Winding Test
The test is established in order to determine the winding
quality of the skein, when the thread is transferred from hank
to the bobbin during the throwing process prior to weaving.
More number of breakages per unit time during winding
means loss of production and more wastage and naturally the

42
quality of the woven product is affected on account of more
numbers of knots in the silk thread.
The standard procedure is to record the number of breakage
occurring in a given period during winding. Winding breakages
might be due to various defects in reeling and re-reeling.
Negligence in attaching cocoon filament in time, gummy and
faulty knots etc., are some of the causes for breakage during
winding. Winding machine
Cohesion test
Composite raw silk thread is on twisted during reeling. The
individual filaments are combined mainly by the sericin
content in the silk fiber. When the cocoons are cooked in
boiling water, the sericin is softened and it will be in softened
Cohesion tester
condition during reeling as the reeling is done in hot water.
The sericin adhering to the filaments dries after reeling i.e., on
exposure to air and causes the filament to agglutinate in the
thread. Thus, the raw silk thread is compact and strong
enough to withstand friction during the later processes.
The degree of agglutination is important. As a matter of fact,
higher the degree of agglutination, better is the cohesive
character. The cohesion is measured by subjecting the raw silk
threads to friction in the duplan cohesion tester and
constituent filaments. This test is not required for coarser raw
silk threads above 34d size.
Ruptured filament

43
Silk conditioning
Silk is highly hygroscopic in nature. Therefore, it absorbs
moisture to the extent of 15-20% during the days of high
humidity like rainy season etc. during dry season; the moisture
content in the silk will be very low. However, at standard
atmospheric conditions i.e., at 27 degree C temperature and
65% relative humidity, silk absorbers about 11% moisture. So,
in order to avoid loss/gain either to the seller or buyer. The
silk is conditioned to have standard moisture content of 11%
in it.
To start with, silk is subjected to heat treatment at 140 degree
C so as to remove all the moisture content and then add 11%
moisture to oven dry weight to find out the conditioned
weight of silk.
The formula is:
Condition weight of silk= W+ (W x 11)/100 where W= oven dry
weight of silk
Conditioning cabinet

44
Waste silk
On an average, about 35 percent of silk waste on the weight
of the raw silk reeled is being produced in the reeling industry,
in both mulberry and non-mulberry sectors. Besides this
reeling waste, pierced and cut cocoons in rearing or grain age
houses are available to a small extent and some quantity of
inferior cocoons which are unsuitable for economic reeling
process is also available. This waste silk is used for the
production of spun silk yarn.
Classification of silk waste
During the process of mulberry silk reeling, the different
qualities of mulberry silk waste obtained as bye-product are:
 Waste from cocoons
-floss or blaze
Floss silk, blaze also known as borra is first part of the bave
extruded by the worm for the
frame work of the cocoon. Most
of it is removed from the
cocoons during their collection
and rest while sorting. This can
be used for noil spinning.
The quality recovered from the cocoons on collection is on an
average about 1-1.5% of the cocoons (floss is 2% to 22% of
shell weight in Indian mulberry cocoons)
-Discarded cocoons, pierced, double, stained, etc.
This includes all cocoons found to be unreeling able during
sorting like:
Double cocoons which are jointly formed by combination of
two worms in the same cell and which due to the interlocking
of the continuous filament can not be reeled along with good
cocoons. These cocoons are also used for reeling doupion silk
(double cocoon production is 6-105 in India).
Inferior cocoons-The improperly built cocoons and those
deformed in shape, melted cocoons and other cocoons which
unfit for reeling.
Worm eaten cocoons-Cocoons from which the moth has
emerged. These come from the breeders.

45
 Reeling waste
- Cooker’s waste
-Basin waste-The basin waste constitute unreel able cocoons
that were not eliminated during sorting and combined in the
reeling of normal cocoon lots. This forms about2- 3% of silk
handled, but will be higher when cocoons are of inferior
quality.
- eeler’s waste
-basin refuse or boiling off waste.
 Thread waste
- Re-reeling, winding or throwster’s waste,
This includes all the thread waste formed during knotting and
cleaning operation in various stages of making the silk thread
(re-reeling, winding, re-winding, throwing etc).
It also includes length of threads which for any fault of
twisting have to be discarded during the throwing process
(Throwster’s waste)
- weaving waste
Degumming
This process is used for eliminating sericin to prepare the fibre
for subsequent mechanical process. There are two methods
Degummed silk
1) Soap and soda boil which is widely used (more than
95%).The silk is degummed by this process because it is
cheaper and quicker.
2) Enzymatic degumming

46
Matka silk
The name Matka came from mouth-cut cocoon or pierced
cocoon from which Matka yarns are made. This was invented
in Bengal. The pierced cocoons are dipped in pulse powder
solution for 24 hrs. This softens the sericin of the cocoons and
then hand spinning of the cocoon is done.
Hand spinning
Hand spinning technique could afford to spin 30s to 40s
(metric) economically. The cost of manufacture of hand spun
yarn is lowest and investment is almost nil.
Takli Takli spinning
 Takli spinning
The takli consists of a spindle with disc-like base. The spinner
holds the cocoon “cake” in the left hand, draft and then feeds
the strand with right hand to the spindle. The spindle is
occasionally rotated by the right hand to impart twist after
certain length of yarn is spun. The spinning is discontinued in
order to wind the yarn on the spindle.

47
Hand spinning technique for eri and mulberry waste cocoons
can be advocated in rural areas as a cottage based spinning
process. Paddle spinning
 Paddle spinning Wheel
 Motorized spinning wheel
Motor Spinning
Waste Opener

48

Amber Charkha (carding)
 Amber Charkha
Amber charka, a semi –mechanized hand spinning device is
being used for effective spinning of silk waste. Medium count
yarns can be spun on amber charkha, which has higher
productivity as compared to other hand spinning devices.
Amber Charkha (drawing)
Roving
Amber
Charkha
spinning

49
Noil Yarn
Noil spinning-The short fibre deposited during the dressing
process are not enough to be drafted for spinning into fine
yarn. They are rather used to produce a coarse yarn known as
noil yarn. The short fibres are first opened in a waste opener
and then fed to a breaker card which yields a lap at the other
end. The laps are fed to a tap condenser card from which they
emerge as robings.The robins are spun in to noil yarn on a ring
spinning frame in the range of 7s-22s (metric count)

50
Preparatory process
The series of preliminary preparatory process involved are as
follows:
 Winding
The main functions of winding are to put the yarn in a long
continuous length to suit later processes and also to eliminate
imperfections such as slubs, weak places, dirt’s and so on.
Winding is necessary to rewind silk yarn from hank onto
bobbins. Winding machine
generally consists of 50 to
100 bobbin units. Normally
before winding, the hanks
are soaked in neutral soap
and oil solution in tepid
water so as to wet/soften
the hanks for smooth
unwinding. Hanks are
immersed for few hours and
they are semi-dried before
winding. Winding should be
done at 27 degree C
temperature and 65%
relative humidity.
If breaks are less during winding, it indicates that the quality
of silk is good. There is standard breakage rate for different
grade, for example, winding breaks should not be more than
12 for 40 bobbin per hour for A grade silk (20/22d).
 Doubling
The object of doubling is to double the individual threads.
Doubling avoids unevenness and the strength of doubled yarn
is correspondingly better than the single thread. Cover factor
of fabric woven out of doubled yarn is better, besides the
fabric being heavier and durable. Before doubling, individual
threads may be
twisted, in which
case the yarn will
be twisted in
reverse direction
after doubling.
Doubling takes
place in two ply,
three ply, four ply
or even more
depending upon
the nature of the
fabric required.

51
 Twisting
Silk twisting machine is of up twister principle. There is a
vertical spindle on which doubling bobbin is mounted and
yarn from this is wound on to a perforated bobbin mounted
horizontally and driven by surface contact. Twist is imparted
on account of difference between the speed of the spindle
and the winding drum. Twisting may be done in single thread
or double thread depending upon type of yarn required for
weaving. Certain yarns like crepe and georgettes requires high
rate of twist.
Twisted bobbins are heat set before use to set the twist given
to the thread and uniform distribution of twist on the yarn.
The sericin gets partially softened by this process. When dried,
it makes the spiral of the twist to cement together.
Twisting affects the brilliancy of yarn. Because the roughness
of the threads surface caused by twisting and the ridges of the
spirals causes shadow with loss of reflected light. As the
number of twists increases, the brightness will be subdued
more.
 Re-winding
Re-winding machine is practically like winding machine.
Bobbins produced on twisting machine are placed on the top
of the machine and the thread is re-wound on to the double
flanged bobbins or
cheese which are
driven by surface
contact.

52
Warping
In silk weaving, normally sectional warping is followed
Because of fine denier of silk thread and consequently higher
number of ends required. Warping machine mainly consist of
two parts
1. Warping creel
2. Warping drum
Warping Creel
The creel is used to place the bobbins. The threads from the
bobbin are collected and passed through a reed before
making a section to be wound on the warping drum. After a
required length of the section is wound, a number of such
sections are wound on the drum depend on the total number
of ends required in the fabric. The warp prepared, combining
a number of threads and making into a section or ball and
finally preparing the warp sheet for handloom weaving.
Warping Drum
 Prin winding
The handloom prin is smaller thus; hand operatated
charkha is used for preparing the prins.

53
After warping is done, the warp is then spread into a warp
sheet. The warp sheet is then warped on to the warp beam of
the loom.
Yarns for weft are wound in latai from the hanks. And then to
bobbins. Or directly wound into bobbins from the hanks by
using Charkha.

54
Silk Weaving
Silk weaving in India has been totally traditional. It is carried
out to a large extent on handlooms, the power looms taking a
small portion of the total production. There are about
2, 28,000 silk handloom and about 40,000 power looms in
India exclusive for weaving silk. In west Bengal, there are 7700
handlooms in Murshidabad, 3300 handlooms in Birbhum, 900
handlooms in Bakura. Most of the looms are fly shuttle type
and each place has its own tradition of looms.
Types of Handlooms
 Pit looms
 Frame loom
 Looms with jacquard installation.
Pit loom
Hand loom with Jala Technique
Jacquard installation

55
Loom with Jala technique and jacquard installation.
.
Frame loom

56
Latai (the yarns are wound around it)
Nunny (thread cutter)
Shuttle (size of the shuttle varies, shuttle for weft insertion are
large and for pattering shuttles are small)

57
After weaving
After weaving the saris on the hand loom,
 The sari is opened from the cloth beam and minor
defects like knots, loops are removed.
Removing defects
 Then the sari is brushed with a wooden piece called
Chipi, for polishing.
 A paste of puffed rice is applied over the fabric.
Polishing
Paste making

58
Silk Fabrics
In Murshidabad, sari is the biggest item of production on
handlooms as well as on power loom. The Handlooms weave
saris with all types of design, including complex motifs with
the help of Dobby and jacquard and also some designs that
can be performed better only manually. Other than saris,
stoles, scarfs, and dress materials are also made.
Plain sari lengths woven in power looms are taken for printing
and dyeing.
There are variations in plain silk fabrics also, such as
 Matka fabric
The fabric is made of 100% matka yarn
 Bafta fabric
These fabrics are made with silk warp and matka weft.
Instead of matka weft, cotton wefts can also be used.
 Jarna fabric.
In this fabric the weft yarn is first tie-dyed and then
used for weaving. It gives a dash effect.100% silk.
 Katari cloth
A hand woven, yarn dyed fabric made with silk warp
and fine count cotton filling.

59
 Katia fabric
In this fabric, a hand spun yarn made out of tasar
waste after opening and cleaning is used in the weft.
 Balkal fabric
The fabric made from the yarn spun out of tasar
cocoon peduncles, after they are boiled in an alkaline
solution and opened up.
 Doupion silk fabric
A plain weave mulberry silk fabric generally produced
on handloom, organzine in warp and doupion silk in
weft. The doupion silk yarn are made from double
cocoons or even from single cocoons, reeled in such a
way as to give an effect of doupion.
Balkal and katia fabric
Saris with design patterns are
 Garod
A sari made of 2 ply yarn, Red satin border, and white body
with small motifs in red. These saris are traditionally worn in
festive occasions like in Durga Poona by the Bengali women.
Now days this is made in various colors.
The motifs are made using jamdani technique.
 Jacquard designed
These saris are heavily patterned in borders and in the pallus.
Garod sari

60
 Baluchar
The Baluchari saris are figured silk sari produced in the town
of Baluchar in Murshidabad district. Baluchar saris essentially
have a silk base with silk brocaded designs with respect to
their colors, where in spite of a rich composition; the Baluchar
bootidars almost avoid strong contrasts. Each pattern is
treated in a color which harmonizes with the ground on which
it is laid. The most popular colors used are red, blue, yellow,
green and scarlet. The Baluchari saris have large floral motifs
interspersed with flowering shrubs. Traditionally the Muslim
community was also known to produce these Baluchars with
figured patterns depicting court scenes, horse with a rider,
women smoking hookah. The Kalka design or the cone motif is
often surrounded with floral borders.
The sari design being traditional, offers
little scope for newer varieties to break
into the market and find a place.
Baluchar sari

61
Processing
The term, processing in silk refers to operation of degumming,
bleaching, dyeing, printing and finishing. Silk is processed in
both yarn and fabric form. In India , the wide range of yarns
includes mainly mulberry raw silk, doupion , tassar, muga and
heavy spun varieties like matka, ghicha, katia etc. the
processing of yarn and the controls used vary often with type
of yarn processed.
As water takes place a major role in processing of silk, it is also
referred as Wet processing.
Degumming of silk
This is a process of removing the sericin or gum from silk yarns
or fabrics by boiling in a nonionic soap solution for 2 hours.
Almost 25% of the total weight of raw silk is removed by this
process. Bleaching of silk fabric
The raw silk obtained after degumming are classified broadly
on the basis of their sericin content into
 raw silk( grege) with 25-30% sericin content
 Hard silk (ecru)with 24-26% sericin content
 Soft silk(souple) 17-18% sericin content
 Pure silk (cuite) with no sericin content.
Since all silk do not respond to degumming uniformly, the
exact time required for degumming different silk varies.
Bleaching
The next process is bleaching, done invariably after
degumming. The popular method is to prepare bleaching
liquor by use of hydrogen peroxide, with or without soap,
ammonia or sodium sulphate.The material is boiled for 2
hours followed by a thorough wash.
Washing of fabric

62
Silk whiteness can be improved by bleaching with reducing
agents like, hydrosulphite and rongalite but it tends to
reoxidise and the original color may be restored. Hence
reducing agents should be avoided for bleaching,
Dyeing of silk
Silk has affinity for various classes of dye stuffs. The dye stuffs
recommended for silk includes acid dyes, direct dyes, metal
complex dyes, milling dyes and some of the reactive dyes.
Though basic dyes, vats, solbilised vats, azoic dyes and
mordent dyes can be used for dyeing silk, their use is
restricted because silk may not have ready affinity for some of
these dye stuffs except basic dyes.
Acid dyeing
Though silk has an affinity for acid dyes, the dye shades tend
to be less fast than on wool. However, silk exerts its affinity
for acid dyes at lower temperatures. The dyeing is usually
started at 40 degree C and the temperature allowed to rise to
about 85 degree C. The material: liquor ratio is 1:30. In the
case of neutral dyeing acid dyes, acetic acid is used for better
penetration of dyes.
The fabric is then washed with nonionic soap and water
thoroughly till the washed out water is clear.
The fabric is now semi dried in hydro-extractor and then put in
shade for drying.
Reactive dyes
It is recommended that natural silk should be dyed with
reactive dyes from a weak acidic medium PH -6 in the
presence of a neutral salt.
Printing of silk
Printing is also referred as localized dyeing. The printing
process involves the following factors:
 Method of printing
 Preparation of printing paste

63
 Fixation of prints
 Washing
Style of printing silk are:
 Direct printing
 Discharge printing
 Resist printing( Batik)
Methods of printing of silk are mainly
 Hand block printing
Wooden blocks are used. The design is carved out of the
wooden surface and positive space is the design to be printed
using dye paste.
 Screen printing
Flat screens made of nickel mess are used. The design to be
transferred to the mess is in black and white form. The form of
design is in black color and the space is blank, taken is
transparent sheet.UV light are passed through this
transparent sheet on to the nickel mess coated with
photosensitive emulsion.
Blank spaces of the design get solidify in the nickel mess and
the forms of the design remains porous.
Then dye solution is put on the screen and pressed with a
rubber squeegee. The dye comes out of the porous area of the
mess and the fabric below get design printed on it.
 Block, screen and brush combined.
 Others are spray and sponges.
Direct style
 Dye paste preparation is done. The printing paste is
contains dye solution and binder/thickener.
 The fabric is set on the table.
 Application of dyes using methods is done.
 Then it is dried using heater
 Fixation of dyes is done by steaming.
 Then the fabric is thoroughly washed off.
 Then dried in shade.
Flat screens used for printing

64
The fabric is set on the printing table which is coated with wax
Then the screen is set on the fabric and dye paste is poured
Printing is done
Drying of printed
fabric

65
Discharge printing
 It very costly but in demand
 Two main elements are involved, use of non -
dischargeable dye and the other is adding discharging
agent.
 Discharging agents are reducing agents e.g. shopholite
and monolite, zinc dust, sodium bisulphate, titanium
oxide, zinc oxide.
 The fabric is first dyed with dischargeable dyes and
then printed with discharging agents which gives a
white discharge.
 In another method non dischargeable dye along with
discharging agent is used for printing.
This discharges color of the dyed fabric and get color of
the non dischargeable dye. This is known as color
discharge.
Batik printing
 In this wax (mixture of Bee wax and Paraffin wax) is
used for resist.
 Napthol dyes and base salts are used for dyeing.
 The fabric is dyed for base color.
 Then the molten wax is applied.
 After the wax dries, it is crushed.
 Then it is re dyed in darker shade, which gives the Batik
effect.
Batik fabric

66
Finishing of silk
Fabric finishing can be broadly divided into:
1. Mechanical finishing
2. Chemical finishing
Mechanical finishing
The objective of mechanical finishing is to impart or improve
certain desirable qualities like drape, fall, stiffness, and
weight etc, most of the mechanical finishes being only
temporary.
 Stentering machine
This machine imparts dimensional stability to fabrics.
 Calender
The handle and appearance of the fabric are improved
by this machine.
 Decatizing machine
Dimensional stability is increased and the fabric is
smoothened by removing the crease.
 Kundi process
This process is done to impart luster and softness to
the fabric. It is a traditional process of finishing. The
presence of sericin in fabric makes it difficult for
finishing. To make the surface smother, fabric is
treated with starch, araroot, dencol (adhesive),
glycerin, and softener.
After the fabric are dried, folded and covered with
another piece of cloth and then beaten continuously
with wooden bat. Fabric folding
Beating

67
Chemical finishing
The objective of chemical finishing is to impart or improve
certain desirable effects, such as anti crease and flame
retarded qualities.
 Weighting
Weighting is carried out in order to compensate the
loss of weight due to degumming. this original can be
restored or even increased by treatment with chemical
such as iron compounds, tin compounds and tannin.
This imparts a fuller handle and better drapability.
 Scrooping
Scrooping with respect to silk is a peculiar cracking
sound produced when fabric is rubbed or squeezed by
hand. It is imparted by dilute acetic acid or tartaric acid
treatment. Lactic acid at 10 gpl for 5-10 min. is also
recommended.
 Creases –recovery finishes
Suitable resin precondensates are used to achieve
crease resistant finish. These products are such that
they either react with another or cross-link with fibroin
back bone to form water insoluble products under the
action of heat and catalyst. Many different types of N-
methylol derivatives of nitrogenous compounds are
used for this purpose.
 Flame retardants
It is generally established that a reaction product of
polyhalogenated acids having a cyclic nucleus such as
chlorendic acid and thiourea would impart the self
extinguishing properties.
 Oil repellent finishes
Water and oil repellent finishes are applied in
conjunction with each other and the conjunction with
each other and the conventional auxiliaries needed for
this effect are, waxs, metal acid salt and oxides.
- Proteins and nitrogenous compounds
- Silicones
- Fluoro chemicals.

68
Embroidery
The saris are also embellished by doing embroidery with
thread and Zari, attaching sequences, stones, and mirrors.
Poor Women of villages earn there living by doing embroidery
on these silk saries.

69
Sericulture -A support to rural India
High employment potential
 60 lakh persons are engaged in various sericulture
activities in the country
 It is estimated that Sericulture can generate
employment @ 11 man days per kg of raw silk
production (in on-farm and off-farm activities)
throughout the year. This potential is par-excellence
and no other industry generates this kind of
employment, specially in rural areas, hence, sericulture
is used as a tool for rural reconstruction.
Provides vibrancy to village economics
About 57 % of the gross value of silk fabrics flows back to the
cocoon growers with share of income to different groups as
under:-
 56.8 % to cocoon grower
 6.8% to the reeler
 9.1% to the twister
 10.7% to the weaver
 16.6% to the trade
Thus, large chunk of income goes back to the villages from the
cities
Low gestation, high returns
 Estimated investments of Rs.12,000 to 15,000
(excluding cost of land and rearing space) is sufficient
for undertaking mulberry cultivation and silkworm
rearing in one acre of irrigated land.
 Mulberry takes only six months to grow for
commencement of silkworm rearing. Mulberry once
planted will go on supporting silkworm rearing year
after year for 15-20 years depending on inputs and
management provided.
 Five crops can be taken in one year under tropical
conditions.
 By adopting stipulated package of practices, a farmer
can attain net income levels up to Rs.30000 per acre
per annum.
Women friendly occupation
 Women constitute over 60 % of those employed in
down-stream activities of sericulture in the country.
This is possible because sericulture activities starting
from mulberry garden management, leaf harvesting
and silkworm rearing is more effectively taken up by
the women folk. Even silk reeling industry including
weaving is largely supported by them.
 This is contributing towards the women
empowerment. Poor women earning their living as a
house maid rather preferred this work with dignity.

70
 Position of the women in the family improves as they
are also an earning member and helps in increasing the
family income.
 Women now, send their children to schools due to
economic growth. Further results to Education and a
key to developed India.
Ideal programme for weaker sections of the society
 Sericulture can be practiced even with very low land
holding.
 ¾ acre of mulberry garden and silkworm rearing can
support a family of three without hiring labour.
 Features such as low gestation, high returns make
sericulture an ideal programme for weaker sections of
the society.
 Vast tracts of forest based tasar food plantations
available in the country, if judiciously exploited for
rearing tasar silkworms, can offer supplementary
gainful employment for tribals.
Eco-friendly activity
 As a perennial crop with good foliage and root-spread,
mulberry contributes to soil conservation and provides
green cover.
 Waste from silkworm rearing can be recycled as inputs
to garden.
 Dried mulberry twigs and branches are used as fuel in
place of firewood and therefore reduce the pressure
on vegetation/forest.
 Being a labour intensive and predominantly agro-based
activity, involvement of smoke-emitting machinery is
minimal.
 Developmental programmes initiated for mulberry
plantation are mainly in upland areas where un-used
cultivable land is made productive.
 Mulberry can also be cultivated as intercrop with
numerous plantations.
 Mulberry being a deep-rooted perennial plant can be
raised in vacant lands, hill slopes and watershed areas.
 Currently, only about 0.1 % of the arable land in the
country is under mulberry cultivation.
Satisfy equity concerns
 Benefits of sectoral value-addition primarily accrue to
rural households. As the end-product users are mostly
from the higher economic groups, the money flows
from high end groups to low end groups.
 Cases of landless families engaged in cocoon
production using mulberry contracted from local
farmers are common in some states
All these factors are leading to rural development of India.

71
Efforts made by Government and NGO’s
 Ministry of textiles has made a huge effort in
establishing Central Silk Board which looks after the
development of the silk industry in different states of
India.
 Government organization like Khadi, runs on the
principle of no lose no profit. These organizations are
offering employment to the people
 NGO,s like Sevabrota are giving training to the womens
and then giving work.
Chandrakato resham khadi organization
Khadhi bhavan

72
Central sericulture research and training
institute (CSRTI)
CSR & TI, Berhampore is a premier research station
established during early 1943 to provide the research and
development support for promotion of silk industry in the
Eastern and North eastern region. Presently, it functions
under the administrative control of Central Silk Board, a
statutory body under the ministry of textiles, Govt. of India.
Three Central Sericultural Research and Training Institutes
(CSR&TIs) at Mysore (Karnataka), Berhampore (West Bengal ),
and Pampore (Jammu & Kashmir)
The institute is located in the historic district of Murshidabad
in West Bengal, where
the silk industry has
bloomed, flourished
and reached its
pinnacle. The city is
200 km away from
Kolkata and well
connected by both Rail
and Road.
The institute conducts
research in all aspects
of sericulture from soil
to silk. Vested with the mandate to conduct research, it has
made remarkable research break through and outstanding
contributions for the overall development of silk industry in
the region. On the plant side, new mulberry varieties capable
of increasing the productivity and quality of leaf have been
developed together with package of practices. On the insect
side, productive silkworm breeds suitable to the region have
been evolved, and suitable prevention and control measures
have been worked out. Even on the reeling front, improved
cooking and reeling techniques are suggested. To generate
human resources development, tailor made training
programme are conducted apart from the regular course of
Post Graduate Diploma in Sericulture. All these contributions
helped to sustain growth of the industry in this region.
Office building of CSRIT Berhampore (W.B)

73
In the recent years, the institute has embarked on a
‘lab to land’ programme to disseminate the research findings
into successful economic ventures among the rural people.
Achievements
Improved hybrids
New mulberry variety developed by cross breeding for better
foliage in different climatic condition. Hybrids are as follows:
1) S1 irrigated,
2) S1635 irrigated,
3) S799 – irrigated,
4) C1730, non irrigated,
5) BC259 Temperate,
6) Tr-10 Temperate.
CSRTI has made hybrid silkworm by cross breeding,
Multivoltine, Bivoltine and Nistari. For example:
 M12W (Multi X Multi),(Multi-Nistari)-good resistance
 NB4D2 Multi-Bi, (good resistance with quality).
 On the basis of ranking of hybrids (Evaluation index-
Mano et al, 1993) and parents performances (seed
crop), the following three hybrids were
recommended for different seasons.
Maintenance of Germplasm
 A total no. of 143 mulberry germplasm resources
had been characterized and grouped into 22
clusters.
 A total of 24 multivoltine and 24 bivoltine breeds are
being maintained as Germplasm stock in the institute.
Recommended
Season
Type
of
Hybrid
Name of
hybrid
Yield/
100
Dfls
(kg)
Shell
%
Renditta
Favourable Seasons:
Chaitra
(Feb.- Mar.)
Multi
x Bi
M12
(W) x
KPG-B
62.0 17.03 8.29
Agrahayani
(Nov-Dec)
Multi
x Bi
M6DP(C)
X
(SK6xSK7)
59.4 17.61 8.59
Unfavourable Seasons:
Shravani
(Jun.- Jul.)
Bhaduri
(August)
Aswina
(Sept.)
Multi x
Multi
M12
(W) x
M6M81
43.0–
45.0
14.2-
14.9
9.8–11.6

74
Equipments for rural rearing
1. Low Cost Incubation Pot
2. Silkworm Egg Box
3. Low Cost Rearing Tray
4. Acid Treatment Bath
5. Lime Duster Mulberry Twig Chopper
6. Low Cost Hygrometer
Improved techniques for quality reeling
 The superiority of hot air drying over sun drying in
terms of raw silk yield and reeling efficiency has
been confirmed. The recovery percentage in the hot
air dried cocoons has excelled as high as 10.46% and
recorded less renditta to a magnitude of 1.3 which
implies its economical superiority.
 A hand operated drying machine has been
fabricated which can successfully dry the cocoon
without harming the raw silk quality.
 Baking chambers of 10 Kgs and 250 Kgs capacity
have been fabricated for drying of cocoons.
 A low cost reeling machine made of wooden
structure and suitable for locally available fuel has
been designed and fabricated. The machine was
found at par with other cottage basin in terms of
productivity but found superior in terms of quality.

75
Current scenario
 Silk is a high value but low volume product accounting
for only 0.2 % of world's total textile production. Silk
production is regarded as an important tool for
economic development of a country as it is a labour
intensive and high income generating industry that
churns out value added products of economic
importance. The developing countries rely on it for
employment generation, especially in rural sector and
also as a means to earn the foreign exchange.
 Geographically, Asia is the main producer of silk in the
world and produces over 95 % of the total global
output. Though there are over 40 countries on the
world map of silk, bulk of it is produced in China and
India, followed by Japan, Brazil and Korea. China is the
leading supplier of silk to the world with an annual
production of 153942 MT (2006).Out of Which the
Mulberry raw silk product is 115092 MT
 India is the second largest producer of silk with 18475
MT (2006-07) and also the largest consumer of silk in
the world. It has a strong tradition and culture bound
domestic market of silk. In India, mulberry silk is
produced mainly in the states of Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and West
Bengal, while the non-mulberry silks are produced in
Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Orissa and north-eastern states.
 Sericulture sector is next to Handloom sector in
generating employment.
 Silk is an export oriented product and is exported to
more than 50 countries like USA, U.K., Italy, UAE and
Saudi Arabia. Some European and Asian countries are
main buyers of Indian silk. Exports for 2004-05 touched
an all time record of Rs.2879.56 crore.
Top Ten Cocoons(Reelable) Producers — 2005
Country
Production
(Int $1000)
Footnote
Production
(MT)
Footnote
People's
Republic of
China
978,013 C 290,003 F
India 259,679 C 77,000 F
Uzbekistan 57,332 C 17,000 F
Brazil 37,097 C 11,000 F
Iran 20,235 C 6,000 F
Thailand 16,862 C 5,000 F
Vietnam 10,117 C 3,000 F
Democratic
People's
Republic of
Korea
5,059 C 1,500 F
Romania 3,372 C 1,000 F
Japan 2,023 C 600 F
No symbol = official figure,F = FAO estimate, * = Unofficial figure, C = Calculated figure;
Production in Int $1000 have been calculated based on 1999-2001 international prices
Source: Food And Agricultural Organization of United Nations: Economic And Social Department:
The Statistical Devision

76
 With a broad agriculture base, sericulture is seen as an
effective tool for rural development and reconstruction.
 Labour intensive in nature, sericulture is mainly a
cottage industry in India, providing livelihood to more
than 8 lakh families. Approximately around 6 million
people are engaged in sericulture and silk production.
 The cultivation of silk is called sericulture. Over
30 countries produce silk, and the major ones are
China (54%), India (14%) and Japan (11%).
Year
Mulberry
Hectarage
Production of raw silk (Tons)
Per Ha.
Productivity of
mulberry (In Kg.)
Mulberry Non-Mulberry Total
Cocoon Raw Silk Cocoon
Raw
Silk
1997-98 282244 127495 14048 1188 15236 451.72 49.77
1998-99 270069 126566 14260 1284 15544 468.64 52.80
1999-00 227151 124531 13944 1270 15214 548.23 61.39
2000-01 215921 124663 14432 1425 15857 577.35 66.84
2001-02 232076 139616 15842 1509 17351 601.60 68.26
2002-03 194463 128181 14617 1702 16319 659.15 75.16
2003-04 185120 117471 13970 1772 15742 634.57 75.46
2004-05 171959 120027 14620 1880 16500 698.00 85.02
2005-06 179065 126261 15445 1860 17305 705.11 86.25

77
Statewise Mulberry and Vanya Rawsilk Production
Unit: Metric tonnes
State 2005-06
Mulberry Vanya Silk Total
Tasar Eri Muga
Andhra pradesh 5375 20 27 - 5422
Assam 8 745 104 857
Arunachal Pradesh 1 neg 10 0.24 11
Bihar 3 14 2.8 - 18
Chattisgarh 3 90 2 - 96
Himachal Pradesh 16 - - - 16
Haryana - - - - -
Jammu & Kashmir 95 - - - 95
Jharkhand 1 96 neg - 97
Karnataka 7471 - - - 7471
Kerala 12 - - - 12
Madhya Pradesh 23 16 - - 39
Maharastra 44 6 - - 50
Manipur 48 3 235 0.06 286
Mizoram 6 neg 3.2 0.07 9
Meghalaya 3 - 280 5.4 288
Nagaland 1 neg 130 0.18 131
Orissa 2 21 2 - 25
Punjab 4 - - - 4
Rajasthan 0 - - - -
Sikkim - - - - -
Tamil Nadu 739 - neg - 739
Tripura 4 - - - 4
Uttar Pradesh 19 3 0.5 - 24
Uttaranchal 14 5 neg neg 19
West Bengal 1552 34 4 0.2 1591
Total 15445 308 1442 110 17305

78
The targets for the sector were fixed in terms of production of
mulberry and non-mulberry raw silk, creation of employment
and enhancement of exports.
S
l.
N
o
.
Particulars X Plan target
(2002-2007)
Actual
2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-
2005
2005-
2006
2006-
2007 *
1 Area under Mulberry
(Lakh hectares)
2.00 1.94 1.85 1.72 1.79
1.90
2 Production of raw silk
(MT)
A. Mulberry
B. Non-Mulberry
(a) Tasar
(b) Eri
(c) Muga
24150
450
1700
150
14617
284
1316
102
3970
315
1352
105
14620
322
1448
110
15445
308
1442
110
16700
323
1514
116
Total 26450 16319 15742 16500 17305 18653
3 Employment
(Lakh persons)
60.03 56.00 56.50 58.00 59.50 60.00
4 Exports (Rs. in crores) 3200.00 2294.05 2779.19 2879.5
6
3194.2
0
3200.0
0

79
To enhance sericulture activities and its
marketability as a part of rural industry.
 Sustainable employment in rural areas through
sericulture activities .
 Quality silk and by-products of silk by adopting latest
innovative package of practices and render necessary
services at village level in order to ensure its
marketability.
 Ensure effective management of sericulture activities,
active participation of beneficiaries and stakeholders.
 Boost up the value addition activities and its
marketing.
 Facilitate backward and forward linkages to the people
(beneficiaries) who are involved in all stages of
sericulture activities.
 Promotion and development of silk industry in the
state.
 Developing and distributing healthy silkworm seeds.
 Technical guidance to farmers and beneficiaries for
improved method of mulberry cultivation, silkworm
rearing, silk reeling and spinning.
 Initiating measures of standardization and quality
control of silk and silk products
 Rationalization of marketing and stabilization of prices
of silk cocoons and raw silk.
 Collection of statistics.
 Preparing and furnishing relevant reports relating to
silk industry in the state to the State Government and
Central Silk Board.

80
Silk export
Introduction
Japan, China and India are the leading countries in the
production of silk and other silk materials but now a day there
is a greater competition between China and India in case of
silk production. By knowing the nerves of foreign marketing
and factions by India there is increase in exporting of silk
during first six months of 2000-01. By comparing last years
exports of silk items, it increases from 15 01 to 16 1 and
earning $17.43 crore. That means it is increased by 30.5%.
There is demand for Indian silk items from America, Japan,
Spain, Germany, Italy and east Europe. Indian requirement of
silk is 22,000 tonnes while its production is 15,000 tonnes.
Second most important thing is to improve silk quality, which
includes soft, strong and continuous thread. Though there is
an increase in plantation of Mulberry by 5 times and many
schemes implemented successfully for silk production there is
shortage of silk. Due to shortage of raw silk there is reduction
in spun silk and Kashmiri Carpets. In India 40% production of
Mulberry Silk is from Karnataka. While Tasar Silk is from
Madhya Pradesh and Orissa and Muga Silk is from eastern
parts of India.
Scope for Exporting
There is increasing demand for silk cloths from foreign
markets. If we concentrate on this demand there is scope to
increase exporting of silk items up to 1500 crores. Following
table shows exporting of silk from India.
The exports of silk goods during the last five years is indicated
as under:
Year (Figure in
Rs. Crore)*
Million US $
1998-99 1250.55 297.04
1999-2000 1755.55 404.97
2000-2001 2421.98 530.21
2001-2002 2359.56 495.29
2002-2003 2294.05 474.08
2003-2004 2779.19 604.70
2004-05 2879.56 640.90
2005-06 3194.20 721.53
April-July**
2006-07 1046.56 228.91
2005-06 960.34 220.36
* Including silk carpets and silk RMG.
** The silk good exports during the period April-July of 2006-
07 was 1046.56 Crores (US$ 228.91) which was 9% more as
compared to April-July period of 2005-06 which was 960.34
crores (US$ 220.36 million)

81
Future Scope
A scheme "Operation silk wave" is developed by the
Central govt. for the development of quality
"Biovoltaine silk". Under this production of silk will be
increased from 300 to 10,500 tonnes during the period
of 7 years and there is steps taken to reduce the
shortage of silk. This scheme will be implemented in
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Karnataka
govt. has also implemented "Reshme Sampathu"
scheme along with this scheme.
In Murshidabad, scientists are tying to introduce
bivoltines and it’s hybrids in difficult climate of West
Bengal. This success will be the revolutionary step
towards Quality improvement of silk and revival of the
past glory of Murshidabad silk.

Research project on murshidabad silk

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