[Assam] Muga yarn shortage makes way for tassar

[Pradip Kumar Datta]

Muga yarn shortage makes way for tassar
By Ajit Patowary
 GUWAHATI, July 15 – About 3,000 muga sector handlooms in Assam are depending on the cheap Chinese tassar yarns. This is due to the shortage of indigenous muga silk yarn. According to Scientist- C of the Central Silk Board (CSB) S N Mishra, there are about 5,000 handlooms in the State engaged in muga sector. Each of these handlooms needs, on an average, about 50 kgs of muga yarn annually. Assam produces around 100 MTs of raw muga silk yarn annually. With this amount of raw muga yarn, only 2,000 handlooms could be operated.

This has compelled the operators of the rest of the handlooms to depend on Chinese tassar, as, it is the nearest alternative. Again, Chinese tassar yarn is available at a much cheaper rate of around Rs 1,500 per kg, against Rs 4,500 of muga yarn.

This practice cannot be prohibited abruptly. Since, such steps are feared to spell disaster for the people engaged in these looms. There should be viable alternative for their employment.

To overcome this, Mishra said, “ We should raise our annual muga yarn production to 250 MTs. This will be more beneficial for the State’s economy too.”

Moreover, tassar cannot compete with muga, since it does not have the appearance, touch and quality of muga, he said.

The Assam Government and the CSB have plans to produce 250 MTs of muga silk yarn and 1,000 MTs of eri yarn annually by the end the Eleventh Five Year Plan (EFYP), he said.

On the other hand, Chinese mulberry silk yarns are also making inroads into Assam. State’s own mulberry silk yarn production has declined drastically. Till recently, Karnataka used to meet most of the State’s raw material demand. 

Now, Chinese mulberry raw silk yarns have started entering Assam. But their poor colour absorbance has confined their role only to warp materials. 

In the State, there are around 20,000 commercial silk handlooms engaged in this sector. These handlooms are concentrated in Sualkuchi, Bamundi, Bangsor and Ramdiya in Kamrup district, Mukalmuwa in Nalbari district and Jajori in Morigaon district. Some of them are producing kecha paat fabrics using indigenous raw materials, he said. 

However, he warned that the Chinese mulberry silk yarns had the potential to outmaneuvre Indian yarns in the power loom sector for their higher tensile strength. 

It now appears that on an average, India is annually using around 5,000 MTs of Chinese raw silk yarn. This amount was around 2,500 MT around 1990. The post-World Trade Organization (WTO) developments have kept the trend rising particularly in the weaving sector, he said.

India is trying to thwart this challenge by developing bivoltine mulberry silk races. Now, 10 per cent of the country’s total mulberry silk yarns are coming from these races. These varieties of comparatively high-tensile-strength mulberry silk yarns are now produced in Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, North Bengal’s Kalimpong and Meghalaya’s Jayantia district.

India’s domestic mulberry silk yarn production is about 90 per cent of the 15,000 MTs of silk yarns it produces annually. Its annual silk yarn demand is about 25,000 MTs. This fiscal, India has targeted an annual silk yarn production of 17,500 MTs. By the end of the EFYP, the country is planning to achieve the target of 25,000 MTs annually, said the CSB scientist.

       
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