Sericulture Industry - A Boon for Rural Poor: Special Focus on Chittoor District of A.P

Abstract

Agro-based cottage and village industries are a must for creating employment opportunities in the village itself. They play a strategic role in strengthening industrial as well as agricultural linkages. Sericulture has been developed in India as an agro-based cottage industry with considerable employment potential. A very significant characteristic of this industry is its ability to provide gainful occupation for a sizeable section of rural mass without dislodging them from their homesteads. Sericulture industry is considered a boon for rural poor, especially in the drought-prone areas. It provides an excellent nexus in promoting integrated development of agriculture and industry and also in transforming a stagnant rural economy into a dynamic and buoyant industrial economy. The role of sericulture in the rural economy can be judged on different grounds like employment generation, lucrative income and income equilibrium. Against this backdrop, a conceivable attempt is made to analytically examine the growth and development of sericulture industry in Chittoor district so as to arrive at concrete inferences. In view of the high employment potential and remunerative income generation, sericulture has come to be regarded as one of the means of alleviating rural poverty and ushering in rural prosperity in the district. However, the present scenario of sericulture in the State in general and Chittoor District in particular reflects certain problems and drawbacks. The growth rate in the area under mulberry cultivation is depleting sharply from year to year due to lack of rainfall during monsoon season and consequent drought conditions; consequently the production of cocoons is by and large sagging. The industry at present is confronted with a plethora of problems in production, finance and marketing. There is an urgent need to allocate adequate funds and implement the developmental schemes and programmes more effectively to enliven the sericulture industry in the district.