The Role of Stakeholders in Strengthening the Sericulture Industry

Silk doesn’t reach your hands by accident. Behind every metre of this luxurious fabric lies a carefully coordinated chain of people – each with a distinct role, each dependent on the other. The sericulture industry is not driven by a single actor but by a network of stakeholders whose work is deeply interlinked. From the farmer who tends mulberry trees to the artisan who weaves silk on a handloom, every link in this chain matters. Understanding how these stakeholders connect – and why those connections need to be strong – is essential to appreciating how sericulture functions as both an industry and a rural livelihood system.

The silk value chain: who are the stakeholders? 🔗

The sericulture value chain runs from the soil to the shelf. Sericulture employment spans the entire production process – silkworm seed producers, farmers-cum-rearers, reelers, twisters, weavers, spinners of silk waste, and traders – all form an interdependent chain of specialized operations. According to the International Sericultural Commission, the industry in India alone provides employment to more than 7.6 million people across 51,000 villages. Each of these people belongs to a distinct stakeholder group with a defined function.

Cocoon producers: the foundation of the supply chain 🔗

Cocoon producers – commonly called sericulture farmers or rearers – are the first active producers in the chain. They cultivate mulberry (or other host plants), rear silkworms, and harvest cocoons. Their output is the primary raw material for the entire silk industry. Silk cocoon production is valued as the main product of sericulture, boosting farmers’ income while acting as raw material for silk industries.

The quality and quantity of cocoon production directly determines what reelers and weavers downstream can work with. Poor cocoon quality means poor raw silk, which in turn means inferior fabric. This is why farming practices – mulberry variety selection, silkworm rearing techniques, disease management – are all critical concerns for this group.

In India, cocoon markets are organized as open auctions where reelers bid for cocoons. In Tamil Nadu, for example, a committee comprising both buyers (reelers) and sellers (farmers) helps fix fair prices for cocoons daily, ensuring producers are not exploited by middlemen.

Graineurs: the seed producers who start it all 🔗

Before a single silkworm egg hatches on a farmer’s tray, a graineur (also written as grainage operator or seed producer) has done critical preparatory work. Graineurs operate specialized facilities called grainages – centres dedicated to the production and supply of disease-free silkworm eggs, known as layings or Disease-Free Layings (DFLs).

Silkworms are produced in the grainage, which is the first and most important stage of silkworm rearing. The success of silkworm rearing largely depends on careful grainage operations. Systematic methodology in the grainage not only minimizes larval mortality due to disease but also results in vigorous progenies. In private grainages, each female moth that lays eggs is individually examined under a microscope to ensure disease-free layings – a painstaking quality control step that protects the entire crop downstream.

The Tamil Nadu Department of Sericulture, for instance, operates 19 seed farms in a three-tier system of silkworm seed production, supplying certified seeds for commercial rearing across the state. Without reliable graineurs, cocoon producers would face inconsistent yields and disease outbreaks – making this stakeholder group the silent guardian of the entire sericulture chain.

Reelers: transforming cocoons into raw silk 🔗

Once cocoons are harvested, they move to reelers – the post-cocoon processing specialists. Reeling is the process of unwinding the continuous silk filament from the cocoon and twisting it into raw silk thread. It requires both skill and appropriate equipment, and the quality of reeling directly determines the grade of raw silk produced.

Reelers purchase cocoons through auction markets and process them into usable silk yarn. The Central Silk Board categorizes the sericulture sector into primary (cocoon) producers, reelers and twisters, weavers, and all others involved in processing, trading, and allied activities – recognizing reelers as a distinct and critical segment of the post-cocoon sector.

The connection between cocoon producers and reelers is especially vital. Marketing is the most important factor influencing the development of sericulture in any country, and when this producer-reeler linkage is weak – for example, where local reelers are few and outside buyers dominate – fair prices are not offered to rearers, directly reducing farmer income. Strong, local reeler networks are therefore critical to a balanced supply chain.

State government silk exchanges like the Government Anna Silk Exchange in Tamil Nadu, operational since 1991, provide marketing infrastructure for raw silk produced by reelers, ensuring tested, graded silk reaches buyers transparently.

Weavers: giving silk its final form 🔗

Weavers are the craftspeople who transform raw silk yarn into fabric. They represent the consumer-facing end of the production chain and are often the most visible stakeholders in the silk industry, particularly in clusters known for specific textile traditions – Kancheepuram, Varanasi, Pochampally, Mysore, and others.

India’s silk industry operates 3,28,627 handlooms and 45,867 powerlooms, employing over 8,14,616 weavers. This scale reflects the enormous downstream importance of weaving in the silk economy. Weavers depend entirely on the quality of yarn supplied by reelers. When reeling quality is poor, weavers struggle to produce the fine fabric that commands premium prices in domestic and export markets.

Weaving is also where value addition is highest. A kilogram of raw silk worth a few hundred rupees becomes embroidered fabric, designer sarees, or dress material worth many times that amount. The Jharcraft initiative in Jharkhand shows how interventions at the weaving stage can directly raise weaver incomes – from ₹1,500-2,000 per month to ₹6,000-8,000 per month – by introducing dobby and jacquard loom technology and improving yarn quality.

Weavers’ cooperative societies in several states have dyeing facilities and are linked to reeling units through apex bodies, creating vertically integrated structures where production, processing, and weaving happen within an organized network.

Self-Help Groups (SHGs): organizing communities for collective strength 🔗

Self-Help Groups (SHGs) play an increasingly important role in sericulture, particularly in bringing marginal farmers, women, and tribal communities into the organized sector. An SHG is typically a small group of 10-20 people who pool savings, access credit, and engage in collective economic activity.

Strengthening cooperatives and SHGs is the key to scaling sericulture. These institutions enable collective input procurement, access to modern technologies, and bulk marketing, enhancing bargaining power and lowering costs. For individual farmers or weavers operating alone, negotiating fair prices or accessing institutional credit is difficult. SHGs change this by enabling collective action.

In practice, SHGs in sericulture-active regions have taken on tasks including joint purchase of silkworm eggs, shared use of rearing equipment, group marketing of cocoons, and access to training programmes. Organized SHGs and cooperatives enable women to collectively market products, access credit, and receive training, boosting their socio-economic position and empowerment.

The role of SHGs is also strongly gender-linked. Around 60% of workers in silk industries are women, and SHGs provide the organizational framework that enables women to remain economically active, build financial independence, and participate in decision-making at household and community levels. Government frameworks such as the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) and the NABARD SHG-Bank Linkage Programme (SBLP) have been instrumental in institutionalizing and scaling SHG activity across rural India, including in sericulture belts.

NGOs: building capacity and bridging gaps 🔗

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) function as facilitators, trainers, and advocates within the sericulture ecosystem. Their strength lies in their ability to work closely with communities at the grassroots level – something that government departments and markets cannot always do effectively on their own.

In sericulture, NGOs have taken on roles ranging from technical training and input supply to market linkage and policy advocacy. State sericulture departments explicitly factor in the availability of SHGs and NGOs as part of their development planning, recognizing these organizations as delivery partners rather than peripheral actors.

The FAO has documented how NGOs and promoting organizations in the sericulture sector perform critical functions: farmer selection, facilitation, provision of technical inputs, market support, and linking communities to government programmes. The success of Self-Help Groups in Andhra Pradesh and other states of India is attributed to the active role played by women engaged in community-based sericulture development initiatives supported by NGOs and state bodies.

Organizations like PRADAN (Professional Assistance for Development Action) have been particularly active in tribal sericulture zones. PRADAN has developed private enterprise grainages where good quality seed eggs are produced and made available at the doorsteps of rearers, empowering Adivasi communities to engage in tasar silk production sustainably. Such NGO interventions often bridge the gap between research institutions and on-ground farming communities.

Linkage between stakeholders: why it matters 🔗

Each stakeholder group functions within a broader ecosystem, and the strength of the silk industry depends on how well these groups are connected to each other. Weak linkages create exploitable gaps. Distrust between stakeholder communities due to the presence of middlemen and a lack of pricing transparency has historically led to exploitation across the silk value chain in India.

Effective linkage requires:

• Market infrastructure – cocoon auction centres, silk exchanges, and cooperative federations that connect producers to buyers transparently.
• Institutional support – the Central Silk Board and provincial sericulture departments provide technical guidance, seed production support, and marketing linkages across the value chain.
• Research-extension-rearer linkage – a strong bottom-up research-extension-rearer linkage needs to be developed to increase the relevance, accessibility, and efficiency of knowledge sharing among various actors.
• Community organization – SHGs and cooperatives that build collective bargaining capacity and keep value within communities.

When these linkages function well, the benefits flow across the chain. Graineurs supply quality seeds, cocoon producers achieve better yields, reelers get higher-grade raw silk, weavers produce premium fabric, and the community retains more economic value. When linkages break down – whether through price manipulation, disease outbreaks, or inadequate infrastructure – the impact cascades across all stakeholders.

The way forward: strengthening stakeholder networks 🔗

India is the world’s second-largest producer of silk and the largest consumer of pure silk. India is the only country in the world to produce all four known varieties of silk – Mulberry, Eri, Tasar, and Muga – a unique position that reflects both the diversity of its stakeholder base and the depth of its sericultural tradition. Sustaining and growing this industry requires investing not just in technology but in the relationships between stakeholders.

Training programmes for farmers and reelers, stronger cooperative structures for weavers, accessible credit through SHGs, and active NGO involvement in remote areas are all part of the same solution. Government schemes like the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and Silk Samagra support cooperatives’ growth and sustainability, providing an institutional scaffold for these networks to thrive.

Sericulture is not simply an agricultural practice – it is a community enterprise. Its resilience and growth depend on every stakeholder understanding their role, having access to support, and being connected to the next link in the chain.

What do you think? As sericulture modernizes with digital platforms and improved technology, which stakeholder group – cocoon producers, reelers, weavers, SHGs, or NGOs – do you think needs the most urgent support to strengthen the industry? And how can better linkages between graineurs and cocoon producers help reduce crop losses at the very start of the silk value chain?

References

1. https://www.ijsrp.org/research-paper-0921/ijsrp-p11756.pdf
2. https://inserco.org/en/india
3. https://tnsericulture.tn.gov.in/
4. https://sericulture.assam.gov.in/portlets/silkworm-seed-technology
5. https://livelihoods.eu/silk-bringing-rural-communities-out-of-poverty/
6. https://www.txcindia.gov.in/html/XIplanch12.pdf
7. https://www.academia.edu/38453741/Entrepreneurial_Opportunities_in_Temperate_Sericulture_and_Relevant_Constraints
8. https://www.jharcraft.in/sericulture/
9. https://www.granthaalayahpublication.org/Arts-Journal/ShodhKosh/article/download/5734/5193/33926
10. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/390876014_Silkworms_and_Silk_Production_An_Overview_of_Sericulture
11. https://www.indiafarm.org/farming-systems-practices/agricultural-extension/self-help-groups-shgs-india/
12. https://sericulture.assam.gov.in/about-us/detail/functions-and-objectives-26
13. https://www.academia.edu/785402/DEVELOPMENTAL_INITIATIVES_AND_SERICULTURE_IN_A_SOUTH_INDIAN_VILLAGE
14. https://yourstory.com/socialstory/2021/04/bengaluru-agritech-startup-aims-to-make-india-atmanirbhar-reshamandi