Published 2025-11-10
Keywords
- Muga, Silkworm, Income, Muga culture, Rearing, Cost.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Muga is an Assamese word which indicates the golden brown (amber) colour of the cocoon. Muga silk is extracted from Muga silkworm which is mainly confined to the Brahmaputra valley of Assam and foothills of East Garo hills of Meghalaya. It particularly suits rural based farmers, entrepreneurs and artisans as it requires low investment but with potential for relatively higher returns. Rearing of Muga is an age old culture for the people of Assam. Assam has monopoly in producing Muga silk and the demand is also very high in national and international level. Although muga culture has potential of higher return but the muga farmers are tempted to shift from muga farming to rubber plantation and tea plantation due to change in climate conditions, pollution, predators, diseases etc. The study helps to understand the income generation of commercial Muga seed crops in the study area.