The business of Muga, the golden silk, is worth Rs 200 crore now. With proper organization, the industry could grow to 10 times its current size
She possesses no Midas Touch, but she weaves gold. Aged 23, Golapi Bordoloi, a shy and petite girl from a remote area in Assam, smiles unassumingly and displays the beautiful pattern of red and black that she has made on Muga, the golden silk from Assam.
Perched on her shaal, a big mechanical contraption for weaving fiber, she relates how in her village, almost every house has a shaal and how almost every house produces this wonder silk.
| DARE/overseas markets | |
| Japan | USA |
| Greece | Germany |
| South Africa | France |
Muga is a non-mulberry silk obtained from a semi-domesticated silkworm known as the antheraea assamensis, found only in Assam. There are around 9500 sericulture villages in the state of Assam, Sualkuchi being the hub of the industry. Sualkuchi alone produces around 10 million meters of Muga every year, most of which is exported to Japan, where it is used to make kimonos. The annual turnover of the industry is over Rs 200 crore.
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| Golapi Bordoloi - a Muga weaver |
| DARE/qualities and uses |
| Qualities: Tough, porous, durable, easy to handle, golden luster improves with every wash |
| Uses: Mainly sarees and other outfits. Also used to make bags, caps, umbrellas, etc. |
The fabric dates back to the 11th century, when this golden silk used to adorn the royalty, because of which it widely came to be known as the Royal Golden silk. It was introduced to the world way back in 1662 by the French traveler Jean Joseph Tavernier. The silk has a shimmering golden color, the luster of which just gets better and better with every wash. It requires no dyes, is the most durable amongst all silks and is the kind that outlives several generations of the owner!
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| A Muga saree |
So, why is it that when you utter the word Muga in the rest of the country, people give you blank looks? Or if you are talking to somebody in the medical industry, you are greeted with a discourse on Multiple Gated Acquisition scan? Yes. That’s Muga too!
The primary reason behind the ignorance of the masses about Muga is because, in spite of being an old industry, it is still unorganized and obviously untapped. It still falls under the purview of small weavers and artisans producing the silk in their couple of acres of land, weaving fabric from the fiber and selling it off to small retail silk stores. Marketing is almost non-existent. Although it was provided Geographical Indication (GI) status in July last year, the brand equity is not very high. In spite of all this, it is getting in revenues worth Rs 200 crores. What if there were to be an element of organization in the process? Instead of a couple of acres, what if somebody has around 10-20 acres producing some 100-120 MT Muga every year? What if that somebody were to employ workers to produce the silk and artisans to weave the fiber? Consider another scenario. Somebody comes up and offers to buy the silk and its products from the artisans and sells it in the domestic and overseas markets. Whereas the former is an entry point on the production side, the latter one is on the retail side.
| DARE/production |
| The worm: The silkworm used to produce Muga is Antheraea assamensis, which is raised outdoors and is fed on two trees—som (machilus bombycina) and soalu (litsaea polyantha). |
| Process: The worm feeds on the trees and strips them of their foliage, subsequent to which a mass exodus happens. The worms are then collected and transferred to another tree until they are mature enough to spin the fibers. When they are ready to spin their cocoons, they are collected by the keepers and placed into small containers made of dried twigs. The fiber they spin out is golden and is known as the Muga silk. The cocoons are then boiled and reeled in a reeling machine. |
The actual worth of the Muga business is worth at least ten times more than the current Rs 200 crore. The missing link is an entity that recognizes the chinks in the wall and is able to see the worth.
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written by SILK PAJAMA, May 29, 2010
written by SILK PAJAMA, May 29, 2010
there are some beautiful silk pajama and sexy women's sexy silk pajamas, you can see them.
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