Frugal Tactics in Sericulture Farming: An Evidence from Namakkal District of Tamil Nadu

In India’s agriculture landscape, Sericulture is the conscious mass-scale rearing of silk producing organisms to obtain silk that make contribution to both the rural economy and the nation’s textile industry. Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu is famous for its sericulture activities which act as a major source of livelihood for many people in the region. The present study aims to shed light on the resource use and cost efficiency pattern of sericulture cultivation in Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu. This analysis will examine factors such as mulberry cultivation, and silkworm rearing while considering both direct and indirect costs that involved in cultivation. For data collection, 60 sericulture farmers are selected randomly and interviewed through a structured questionnaire. It has been found that large farmers get high profit as compared to small and medium farmers. Therefore, sericulture cultivation is highly beneficial to the large farmers.


Introduction
Agriculture is not confined within production and cultivation of traditional crops, but also practise various other non-farm activities to upgrade their living-standard through provide education to their children, fulfil the basic amenities of life corresponding to the changing world.Sericulture is a farming activity which involves a long chain of production process consist of agriculture and non-agriculture activities.It is an agro-based industry.The word 'sericulture' is derived from the Greek word sericos which means 'silk' and the English word 'culture' originated from 'cultivation'.Sericulture', thus refers to cultivation of silk by rearing silkworms.Therefore, sericulture is an art of rearing silkworm to produce silk and other by-products.The word silk sounds luxury and class.Till today no other fabric can compete with silk with respect to lustre and elegance.Silk is a natural protein fibre, some forms of which can be woven to textiles.Silk is produced by several insects but generally, only the silk of moth caterpillars.
The tiger of Mysore "Tippu Sultan" is the father of the Karnataka silk industry.In 1785 he sent people to Bengal to learn sericulture and to establish the same in his Mysore kingdom.He wanted "Mysore to be the foremost among silk producing nations".The dream of this great ruler eventually came true (Ball,

Philip, 2009).
There are five major types of silk of commercial importance, obtained from different species of silkworms.These are mulberry, oak tasar & tropical tasar, muga and eri.Expect mulberry other silks are non-varieties of silk, known as vanya silks.In India about 97% of the raw mulberry silk is produced in Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and west Bengal.Mysore and North Bangalore, the upcoming site of a US$20 million "Silk City", contribute to a majority of silk production (Deccan Herald, 2009).In India sericulture industry employees around 9.76 million people in rural and semi-urban areas.The government has allocated 2161.68 crores for three years of 2017-2020 to its central sector scheme 'silk samagra' for the development of sericulture in the country.
Tamil Nadu ranked fourth place in the silk production of India.In 1956, sericulture was practiced in limited pockets of Coimbatore and Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu, accounted 500 hectares only.During the year 2012-2013, 1184.62MT of raw silk, have been produced in the state, of which 609.12 MT are close breed silk and 575.50 MT are bivoltine silk.Tamil Nadu continues to occupy the fore-front position in the country in bivoltine silk production and stands first in cocoon productivity with an average of 69.69 Kg per 100 dfls, whereas the national average is 58.20 Kg.Further Tamil Nadu has first position in the production of chawki worms with 27 per cent of laying are distributed as chawki worms to the farmers, which is the highest at national level.In Tamil Nadu, Namakkal district plays a vital role in sericulture, because many people are dependent upon sericulture cultivation for their basic needs.The unique geographical and climatic condition of the district make it an ideal location for sericulture activities by providing a suitable ecosystem for the silkworms to thrive.

Objective of the study
To analyse the cost efficiency of sericulture cultivation in Namakkal district.

Literature Review
Choudhari, and Jadhav (2020) conducted a study based on the economics of mulberry leaves production in parbhani district.They explain that silk is fibrous protein of animal organ produced by the silkworm for spinning cocoon.The primary data was collected from 60 growers from the study area with the help of multistage sampling technique.The result showed that the estimated gross returns from per hectare mulberry garden was Rs. 263182.5 with cost of cultivation Rs. 130680.20.The output -input ratio obtained was 2.09 whereas per kg cost of cocoon production obtained was 215.82.Perke and Talekar (2021) explains the cost and returns of cocoon production in sericulture.They collected primary data from 100 respondents.The study concluded that, the estimated gross return from per hectare mulberry garden was Rs. 263182.

Methodology
The study is solely based on primary data.Namakkal district is selected as the sample district of Tamil Nadu on the basis of highest production.60 respondents belonging to sericulture farming community in Namakkal are selected as sample using random sampling method and interviewed with a structured questionnaire.The farmers were divided into three categories based on their farm size using normal distribution.They are small farmers, medium farmers, and large farmers with a farm size of below 1 acre, 1.1 to 1.75 acres and above 1.75 acres respectively.The selected respondents were collected in person and enquired the information required for the study.The field investigation was carried out during January to April 2023.

Results and Discussion
The study focuses on the cost and return analysis of sericulture production which comprises of both mulberry and silkworm production.And, the overall sericulture production of Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu is embodied in it.1 represents the cost and return analysis of mulberry cultivation.The land preparation for the cultivation includes ploughing and removing stones from the land.The overall average value of land preparation is Rs.4347.57.The mulberry seeds count per acre is 5300 approximately and the overall average cost of seeds is Rs.9868.93.Human labour plays a vital role in mulberry cultivation which includes the activities like cutting the leaves for silkworm, maintenance of the crop etc.The overall average cost for employing human labour is Rs.22553.05.Mulberry leaves cutting is the continuous process, so it needs fertilizer to grow faster.The overall value for fertilizer, growth booster and farmyard manure (FYM) are Rs.7559.37,Rs.1179.50 and Rs.1011.28respectively.The fertilizer used in the field are zincated factamfos, sulfate of potash and sulphur bentonite and liquid poshanseriboost which helps the plants to grow faster.High use of pesticide will affect the growth of leaves and it will lead to the death of worms.Here, the overall average value for growth booster is Rs.1179.50.The overall average value of the total variable costs, total fixed cost, and total cost Rs.55609.7,Rs. 51987.61,and Rs.107597.31respectively.By the implementation of technologies, farmers use advance mechanism to make the work fast.The machineries used for the cultivation are power weeder, water pumps etc.The overall average cost for machinery and interest on fixed capital is Rs.42153.97 and Rs.5570.10 respectively.While considering separately the small, medium, and large farmers, the cost of cultivation is low among large farmers as compared to small and medium.Source: Primary Data The cost and returns analysis of silkworm production are indicated in table 2. The life span of silkworm is approximately 6 to 8 weeks long.The life cycle of silk moth starts when silk moth lays egg.They need a rearing house to grow a silkworm, farmers must maintain the temperature, humidity, and proper air ventilation.The overall average value of total variable cost and total fixed cost is Rs.100591.40 and 344745.83respectively.While the overall average value of worm cost and transport cost is Rs.34238.03 and Rs.2619.44 respectively.The farmers could take 9 to 10 batches per annum.The life span of larvae to silk cocoon takes 21 days to harvest.The overall average cost of human labour for the purpose of harvesting, cleaning, feeding is Rs.56251.84.And the overall average of newspaper and paraffin cost is Rs.2857.13.There are several diseases that affect the silkworm.So, the farmers are taking some chemical protection to control them which includes vijetha, ankush, and limestone, dithane M-45.The overall average cost for rearing house is Rs.34528.11.It consists of the cost of machineries like exhaust fans, sprayer etc.The overall average price of machinery is Rs.10538.49.The life span of mulberry plant is 15 years.The overall average mulberry cost for the total life span is Rs.5916.036.While the total cost is Rs.350661.866which was computed by adding the total variable cost, total fixed cost and the cost of mulberry for the life span.The overall average cost for rearing house is Rs.34528.11.It consists of the cost of machineries like exhaust fans, sprayer etc.The overall average price of machinery is Rs.10538.49.Therefore, the total cost is Rs.350661.866which was computed by adding the total variable cost, total fixed cost, and the cost of mulberry for the life span.The cost and return analysis of sericulture cultivation which comprises of both mulberry as well as silkworm are shown in table 3. The overall average price per kg. of silk is Rs.598.42.There is a dayto-day price fluctuation in silk.The overall averages total revenue, total quantity produced and net returns from sericulture farming were Rs.536585.26,Rs. 896.67 and Rs.185923.394respectively.The net return of small farmers is low because they consume limited number of raw materials without any discounted amount, whereas the bulk purchase receives a huge amount as discount as compared to small and medium farmers.While considering cost-benefit ratio, the sericulture farming is highly beneficial to the large farmers.The overall cost benefit ratio of sericulture in the study area is 1.53.

Conclusion
The cost efficiency analysis of sericulture farming in Namakkal district highlights the economic significance and potential to the local farmers.The sericulture is the highly profitable farming among large scale farmers.To ensure sustained profitability among small and medium farmers, it is imperative to adopt innovative practices, stay tuned to market dynamics, leverage government support and sustainable measures which include credit facilities, subsidies, awareness and training programmes, easily accessible marketing facilities and so on.