Growth and Development of Artisanal Silk Industry in West Bengal during Post Globalization Period

Abstract

Artisanal silk industry, being low-capital intensive with low gestation periods and
assured returns, suits a vast marginal class including landless farmers, low-skilled
artisans and rural women with low opportunity cost of getting employed elsewhere.
However, despite having high land productivities and generation-borne technical skill,
artisanal silk industry is dwindling in West Bengal. The paper tries to focus on few
pertinent issues of West Bengal’s silk industry where land-productivity is diminishing
along with huge exodus of sericulture workers in the post globalisation era. Primary
survey on Malda district of West Bengal exposes that cost of raw materials, loans taken
by the artisans irrespective of its sources of collection and man-days creation for this
vocation are significantly enhancing annual income flow generated by the sericultural
family. In order to improvise this situation an effective institutional effort is required so
that poor sericulture farmers can receive sufficient credit benefit to sustain this rural
industry. All the extension work needs to be synchronized, intensive and time-bound so
as to sustain this age-old artisanal cottage industry in this post-globalisation era.