Sericulture, Agriculture and Poultry | Geography Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

Sericulture

• Sericulture is the cultivation of silk rearing of silkworms. It is an agro-based industry. It involves the raising of food plants for silkworm, rearing of silkworm for production of cocoons, reeling and spinning of cocoon for production of yarn, etc. for value-added benefits such as processing and weaving.
• What is sericulture?
  • Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.
  • Amongst species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used.
  • Silk is known as the queen of textile and “BIOSTEEL” because of its strength.

Some Facts About Sericulture

• One hectare of Mulberry generates employment of about 12 man years and family members ranging in age between 18 to 60 years can engage themselves in various sericulture activities, such as, cultivation of food plants (Mulberry, castor etc., silkworm rearing, egg production, silk reeling, weaving etc.)
• India is the second largest producer of silk in the world after China.
• India has the distinction of producing all the four types of silk i.e. (a) Mulberry silk (91.7%); (b) Tasar silk (1.4%); (c) Eri silk (6.4%); and (d) Muga silk (.5%) which are produced by different species of silkworms.
• Mulberry silk is produced extensively in the states of Karnataka, West Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir. Similarly, Tasar silk worms are reared traditionally by the tribes of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Jharkhand; Muga and Eri silk are produced exclusively in Assam. The food plant of silkworms is Mulberry for producing Mulberry silk.

Sericulture – Historical Perspective

• China is said to be the origin of sericulture.
• The discovery of silk production by B.mori dates to about 2700 BC. Although archaeological records point to silk cultivation much earlier.
• In India the cultivation dates back to 140 AD.
• Later it was introduced to Europe, the Mediterranean and other Asiatic countries.
• Sericulture has become one of the most important cottage industries in a number of countries like China, Japan, India, Korea, Brazil, Russia, Italy and France.
• Today, China and India are the two main producers, together manufacturing more than 60% of the world production each year.

Central Silk Board

• Central Silk Board is a statutory body established under the Central Silk Board Act, 1948. It functions under the aegis of Union Ministry of Textile.
• It is a national organization for overall development of silk sector in India
• The Central Silk Board has been entrusted with the overall responsibility of developing silk industry covering the full gamut of sericulture activities in the country from development of food plants to silk cocoons for production of silk yarn including formation of policies governing Import & Export of silk.
• Central Silk Board is basically an R&D Organization. One of the important activities of the Central Silk Board is undertaking, assisting and encouraging scientific, technological and economic research in the Silk Sector.

Sericulture – Stages of Production

• The silk moth lays eggs.
• When the eggs hatch, the caterpillars are fed mulberry leaves.
• When the silkworms are about 25 days old, they are 10,000 times heavier than when they hatched. They are now ready to spin a silk cocoon.
• The silk is produced in two glands in the silkworm’s head and then forced out in liquid form through openings called spinnerets.
• The silk solidifies when it comes in contact with the air.
• The silkworm spins approximately 1 mile of filament and completely encloses itself in a cocoon in about two or three days, but due to quality restrictions, the amount of usable silk in each cocoon is small. As a result, 5500 silkworms are required to produce 1 kg of silk.
• The silk is obtained from the undamaged cocoons by brushing the cocoon to find the outside end of the filament.
• The silk filaments are then wound on a reel. One cocoon contains approximately 1,000 yards of silk filament. The silk at this is known as raw silk. One thread consists of up to 48 individual silk filaments.

Production

• In India, silk worms thrive on the leaves of mulberry, mahua, sal, ber, and kusum trees.
• In India, about 4.5 lakh hectares of area is under mulberry cultivation. Silk production is mainly confined to areas between 15 and 34 N latitudes. About 55 lakh people are engaged in this industry.
• The state of Karnataka is the largest producer of raw silk (65%) followed by Andhra Pradesh (170/0) West Bengal (8%), Tamil Nadu (5%), Assam (2.5%) and Jammu & Kashmir (1.2%). Limited quantity of mulberry silk is also produced in Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himanchal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
• South India is the leading silk producing area of the country and is also known for its famous silk weaving enclaves like Kancheepuram, Dharmavaram, Arni, etc.

Silk Production in India

Trend in Raw Silk Production

• Silk production has a great future in India.
• India has the unique distinction of being the only country producing all the five known commercial silks, namely, Mulberry, Tropical Tasar, Oak Tasar, Eri and Muga, of which Muga with its golden yellow glitter is unique and prerogative of India.
• Mulberry sericulture is mainly practiced in five states namely Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Assam (Bodoland), West Bengal, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu.
• North East has the unique distinction of being the only region producing four varieties of silk viz., Mulberry, Oak Tasar, Muga and Eri. Overall NE region contributes 18 per cent of India’s total silk production.
• India is the second largest producer of silk in the world. Among the four varieties of silk produced in 2016-17, Mulberry accounts for 71.8% (20,434 MT), Tasar 9.9% (2,818 MT), Eri 17.8% (5,054 MT) and Muga 0.6% (166 MT) of total raw silk production of 28,472 MT.
• The demand for superior quality bivoltine silk is increasing in India for domestic consumption as well as value added silk products for the export market. The Ministry of Textiles Government of India and Department of Sericulture in various states provide technical and financial assistance for enhancing the bivoltine silk production.

Sericulture – Opportunities

• Sericulture being cottage industry plays an important role in employment generation and poverty alleviation.
• It is one of the most profitable activities in rural sector.
• Availability of indigenous technology at low cost.
• Regular and quick returns.
• Large demand and popularity of hand woven silks in the West.
• Strong domestic demand coupled with use of silk garments on festive occasions.
• Large production gap to meet the domestic demand.
• Scope for establishing the large production units and organized sector.
• Effective utilization of the by-products will be more effective.

Recent steps taken by the Government to develop Sericulture in India

• Integrated Scheme for the Development of Silk Industry for development of sericulture industry in various states including Tamil Nadu, focusing on intervention in critical areas such as Feed, Seed, Breed, Post Cocoon Technology and Capacity Building. The scheme has the following components:
• Research & Development, Training, Transfer of Technology & IT Initiatives.
• Seed Organization.
• Coordination and Market Development.
• Quality Certification system and Brand promotion & Technology up-gradation.
• Cold Storage facilities and Bivoltine grainages have been strengthened to produce quality Bivoltine silkworm seed.
• Silkworm seed Act is being implemented to bring quality standards in silkworm seed production to improve the productivity and quality of silk.
• Central silk Board has developed latest technology packages, improved farm machineries, indigenous automatic reeling units and Vanya silk reeling and spinning units to reduce drudgery and improve quality and productivity of Vanya silk.
• Forest Conservation Act has been amended to treat non mulberry sericulture as forest based activity enabling the farmers to undertake Vanya silkworm rearing in the natural host plantation in the forests.
• Government of India through Central Sericulture training Institute of Central silk Board (CSB) has been providing the technical support for Cocoon sector, including the weaving sector.
• Introduction of all four varieties of silks to Handloom weavers.
• Introduction of spun silk as well yarn in Ikkats weaving.
• Conversion of traditional Patola fabrics into garments are some of the extension programme that has been carried that by Ministry of Textiles to promote silk infrastructure in the country.

Apiculture in India

• Apiculture is the science and culture of honeybees and their management.
• Beekeeping is the practice of intentional maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans.
• A beekeeper may keep bees in order to collect honey and beeswax, or for the purpose of pollinating crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeeper. A location where bees are kept is called an apiary.
• Beekeeping (or apiculture, from Latin: apis “bee”) is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans.
• In India beekeeping has been mainly forest based. Several natural plant species provide nectar and pollen to honey bees.

History of Beekeeping

• Globally, there are more than 20,000 species of wild bees, many of which are solitary or which rear their young in burrows and small colonies, like mason bees.
• Commercially it is done in Himanchal Pradesh where locals collect honey on hills and in forests.
• Beekeeping, or apiculture, is concerned with the practical management of the social species of honey bees which live in large colonies of up to 100,000 individuals.

Honey Bees-different Species in India

Five important species of honey bees are as follows-

Types of Beekeepers

• Beekeepers generally categories themselves as:
  • Commercial beekeeper: Beekeeping is the primary source of income.
  • Sideliner Beekeeping: Beekeeping is a secondary source of income.
  • Hobbyist – Beekeeping is not a significant source of income.

Methods of Apiculture

Commercial production of honey is done by two methods, namely indigenous method and modern method. To obtain pure and more amount of honey modern methods of apiculture are in practiced.

Indigenous Method of Bee Keeping

• This is the primitive and unplanned method of apiculture. In this method, two types of hives are used.
  • Natural fixed combs prepared by bees on the walls or the branches of trees
  • Artificial or man-made movable hives. These hives are made from wooden logs or earthen pots etc.
• In the indigenous method, the bees are first killed or made to escape from the hive with the help of smoke when the bees are at rest during the night. This method has many drawbacks and it is not suitable for
  • commercial large-scale production of honey. The following are the disadvantages of the indigenous method:
  • The honey cannot be extracted in pure form. The extracted honey also contains the larvae, pupae, and pollen cells.
  • The future yield of the honey is affected as the colony has to be destroyed to extract the honey. Moreover, it takes a lot of energy of the bees to build a new hive.
  • The bees may not construct the new hive in the same place as the old one.
  • The natural hives also have the danger of attack by the enemies like rats, monkeys, ants, etc. The natural hives can also be damaged by climatic factors.
  • Also, scientific intervention is difficult in the indigenous method, and thus improving of the bee race is impossible.

Modern Method of Apiculture

• In the modern method of apiculture the honey bees are reared in movable artificial hives. This was designed and invented by Longstroth in 1951. This invention has turned apiculture into a cottage industry and has provided employment to lakhs of people.

The methods used here are:

Utility of honey

• Honey is a nutritious food, rich in energy and vitamins. Our body readily absorbs sugar, minerals, vitamins, and other materials from honey. The various uses of honey are:
  • It is used in the formation of candles cakes and bread.
  • It is a laxative, antiseptic, and sedative and used in Ayurvedic and Unani medicinal systems. It Acts as a curative of ulcers on the tongue and alimentary canal. Typhoid germs are killed by it.
  • It is used as a preservative, in the brewing industry, in poultry, and fishing industries.
  • It is used to stimulate the growth of plants, the bacterial culture, in insect diet.

Production of Honey in World

• China is the largest honey producer in the world and exporting the largest amount of honey to other countries.
• After China, Turkey, USA, Iran, Russia, Ukraine, India, Mexico, Brasil, Canada, Malaysia, Germany, Bulgaria, New Zealand, Spain and Michigan are also known as the most biggest honey producer countries in the world.

Production of Honey In India

• The establishment of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission to revitalize the traditional village industries hastened the development of beekeeping in 1980s.
• The production of honey in India increased significantly towards the late 1990s. 70% of honey production comes from informal segments. As a major exporter of honey, India falls behind China, Argentina, Germany, Hungary, Mexico, and Spain.
• West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Bihar, contribute about 61% of India’s total honey production. If you talk about the collection of revenue from the honey market as per the reports of 2018, India has generated INR 15,579 million.
• As per the latest data from the National Bee Board, under the Department of Agriculture, the country’s total honey production reported in 2017–2018 was 1.05 lakh metric tonnes (MTs), compared to the 35,000 metric tonnes in 2005-2006.
• India has exported 61,333.88 MT of Natural Honey to the world for the worth of Rs. 732.16 Crore/ 105.48 USD Millions during the year of 2018-19. U S A, United Arab Emts, Saudi Arab, Morocco, and Qatar are the Major Export Destinations (2018-19).
• India has a potential of about 200 million bee colonies as against 3.4 million bee colonies today.
• Increasing the number of bee colonies will not only increase the production of bee-related products but will boost overall agricultural and horticultural productivity.
• As per the National Bee Board and Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare India’s honey exports have jumped from 29.6 to 51.5 thousand tonnes between 2014-15 and 2017-18.

Beekeeping Development Committee

Bibek Debroy led the beekeeping development committee under the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister has made recommendations to enhance the contribution of the beekeeping sector for achieving the target of doubling of farmer incomes by 2022.
The committee was set up to identify ways of advancing beekeeping in India that can help in improving:

• Agricultural productivity.
• Enhancing employment generation.
• Augmenting nutritional security.
• Sustaining biodiversity.

Key Recommendations

• Institutionalize the National Bee Board and rename it as the Honey and Pollinators Board of India under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare as it will help in advancing beekeeping through multiple mechanisms such as:
  • Setting up of new integrated bee development centers and strengthening the existing ones.
  • Creating a honey price stabilization fund.
  • Collection of data on important aspects of apiculture.
• Simplifying procedures and specify clear standards for ease of exporting honey and other bee products.
• Beekeeping should not be restricted to honey and wax only instead marketing of bee products such as pollen, propolis, royal jelly, and bee venom can contribute to the income of Indian farmers.
• Recognize honeybees as inputs to agriculture and consider landless beekeepers as farmers.
• Training and development of beekeepers should be provided by state governments.
• National and regional infrastructure should be developed for the storage, processing, and marketing of honey and other bee products.
• Plantation of bee-friendly flora at appropriate places and engaging women self-help groups in managing such plantations.
• Recognition of apiculture as a subject for advanced research under the aegis of Indian Council for Agricultural Research.

National Bee Board (NBB)

• Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) registered National Bee Board as a society under the societies registration Act, 1860 in 2000.
• National Bee Board (NBB)was reconstituted (with the secretary as chairman) in June 2006.
• The main objective of the National Bee Board (NBB) is the overall development of beekeeping by promoting scientific beekeeping in India to increase the productivity of crops through pollination and increase the honey production for increasing the income of the Beekeepers/ Farmers.
• Presently NBB is implementing National horticulture mission (NHM) and Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan State (HMNEM).

Conclusion

• Production of honey has been the major aim of the industry.
• Modern beekeeping also includes the production of beeswax, bee collected pollen, bee venom, royal jelly, propolis, as also of package bees, queen bees, and nucleus colonies,
• About 10,000 tons of forest honey is produced in India annually.