Silk industry in India is second to China and has a lot of interesting aspects. On my visit to Delhi I stopped by to see an organization called Eco Tasar. Eco Tasar is part of a non profit organization called Pradhan and mainly sells hand woven silk fabrics. I met Khitish, who had a wealth of knowledge about India's silk industry.
India is one of the only countries that grows all four types of silk in the area- Mulberry (the most common), Ari (usually has little sheen), Tasar (that grows wild), and Muga (gold like sheen and very rare). Pradhan's charter is to empower village folk in northern and eastern India, mainly Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkand, and West Bengal to be self sufficient agricultural entrepreneurs.
The whole process starts with the life of the butterfly that emerges from the cocoon. The life cycle of this butterfly is 72 hours within which is has to lay its eggs. The tribal in the area put the impregnated females in a small covered earthen pot and lets it lay its eggs and die in the pot. The female is then examined for any diseases to ensure the eggs are viable. The eggs are put on a tree in the farm area which is covered with a net for protection. Once the caterpillars emerge, they feed on the trees and after a period of 20-30 days start spinning their own cocoons which are sold in the market. These cocoons are bought by a women's co-operative that spins the yarn. Pradhan has developed these women to spin yarn and earn money during their down time from farming. The women make all the decisions for their organization, from pricing to profit sharing. They also decide their own working hours per their convenience. Once the yarn is spun, Eco Tasar takes over with weaving of the fabric which happens in Bhagalpur, Bihar.
Attached are some pics that were given to me by Eco Tasar showing the work done by Pradhan in empowering villagers through various parts of the process of making silk
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