This book is mainly based on the UG and PG syllabus of the paper sericulture, as a Skill Enhancement Course (SEC) of new Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) of Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam. It is also a humble endeavour to bring out into the public notice the multidimensional aspects of sericulture including employment generation. Through this book, various experts and researchers have shared their knowledge I on various activities of the sericulture and its prospects. It is expected that the book will be able to create awareness among the people and will motivate them to exploit the huge potential of seribiodiversity of Assam that nature has given to us combating sustainable development.
Dr. Tarali Kalita is presently working as an Assistant Professor in the department of Zoology, Cotton University, Guwahati, Assam. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Cotton College (affiliated to Gauhati University) in Zoology and MSc degree in the same subject with specialization in Cell and Molecular Biology from Gauhati University securing 1st class 1st position. She received prestigious INSPIRE FELLOWSHIP from Department of Science and Technology, Government of India to carry out her doctoral research. She has been awarded the Ph.D. degree from Gauhati University for her thesis entitled 'Morphological and Genetic Variation in Wild and Cultivated Races of Antheraea assamensis Helfer'. Her area of research interest is sericulture, nutrition and Health and Reproductive Physiology. She has published a good number of research papers of national and international reputes.
Skill Enhancement Course (SEC) in Cotton University was introduced in the academic year 2019-2020 as a part of the new Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) syllabus in Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) course. The department of Zoology, Cotton University offered 'sericulture' as the skill enhancement course of credit 2 (32 lectures, marks-50). The aim of this particular course is to make students skillful so that they have the capability of self-employment.
On the very first day of my class on this paper when I interacted with the students they did not show any interest towards the syllabus and considered it very boring. They mentioned 'We neither have basic concepts on sericulture nor we know any skill of silkworm rearing, so how much meaningful the word 'enhancement' is?'
I decided to make the subject interesting first by pointing out the multidimensional opportunity of self- employment and economic empowerment through sericulture as well as research and development prospects in the field of sericulture. I had to start from the very basics of sericulture like types of silk insects, how silk is formed, how rearing of silkworm are done and up to the very advanced topics like use of silk other than textile. While doing so, materials had to collect from various secondary data sources and it was really pain taking and time consuming activity. Therefore, I decided to compile these information in a book form so that students can get all of them together in a single attempt. I stressed at the outset that the various aspects of sericulture can be included in this book, and therefore, the writings have been collected from different experienced people working in this field.
Sericulture is an age old traditional practices in rural Assam especially. The region has established itself the world over for being a hub for practicing diverse sericulture activities especially 'vanya silk' varieties that include Muga (Antheraea assamensis), Eri (Philosamia ricini), Oak Tasar (Antheraea proyler) including a rich biodiversity of sericigenous fauna of commercial importance. The importance of sericulture in the cultural milieu of folks of Assam can be exemplified from the fact that Assam ranks third in raw silk production in the country. At present about 9935 sericulture villages are producing 157 MT muga, 4645 MT eri and 59 MT mulberry (https:// databank.nedfi.com/content/sericulture-assam). Still production is less than the demand. Hence, to improve the raw silk production it needs involvement of more people with advanced skills and techniques.
**Contents and Sample Pages**
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