What the technology looks like when it reaches a household. These are named farmers working their own land, with the figures from their own crops — not illustrations of what muga culture could earn, but a record of what it did earn, for a person who can be visited and asked.
Shri Bagen Konwar — muga rearing under Silk Samagra–II
1,000DFLs per crop
60,000Cocoons per crop
3Crops a year
₹7–8 LAnnual income
Before
- Born into a small farming family dependent on paddy and seasonal crops.
- Low and uncertain income from traditional agriculture; frequent floods and unreliable weather made every year a financial risk.
- Muga was already in the family — his father reared it traditionally — but at a very small scale, and with limited scientific knowledge of the crop.
- He could see that muga culture might offer a stable and dignified livelihood; what was missing was the method, not the will.
The turning point
- Skill training at the State Sericulture Department Farm, Dhakuwakhana.
- Hands-on training by the Central Silk Board and the Department of Sericulture, and exposure to scientific rearing methods and modern muga technologies.
- Assistance under Silk Samagra–II as a muga rearer.
- Established a chawki som plantation — young-age leaf of the right quality, on his own land, at the time the worms need it.
- Adopted scientific rearing practices, which raised both survival and productivity.
After
| Measure | Per crop | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| DFLs brushed | 1,000 | 3,000 |
| Cocoons produced | 60,000 | 1,80,000 |
| Crops taken | 1 | 3 |
| Income | ₹ 3.00 lakh | ₹ 7–8 lakh |
Per-crop figures are as recorded; the annual cocoon and DFL columns are three times the crop figure. Note that the annual income of ₹ 7–8 lakh is below three times ₹ 3 lakh — muga outturn varies considerably between the three crop seasons, so the yearly figure is the one to quote rather than the multiplication. Worth confirming with the rearer before this appears in a report.
“Each crop of 1,000 muga DFLs gives me around 60,000 cocoons and an income of nearly ₹ 3 lakh. With three crops a year, I now earn ₹ 7–8 lakh, making my family self-reliant while creating work for others.”
Beyond the income
- Sericulture has become the household's primary livelihood rather than a supplement to paddy.
- Muga rearing is run as a family enterprise, with his wife, son and daughter-in-law all working in it.
- The holding provides seasonal employment to others in the village.
- He is recognised locally as a progressive farmer and a role model for other rearers.
What this case shows. Muga sericulture can provide a sustainable and reliable
income where paddy alone could not. Scientific practice is what raises productivity and, more
importantly, resilience — the difference between a good year and a failed one narrows
once rearing is done to method. And the transformation is not only financial: it is a
livelihood the household is willing to be identified with.
The rearing practice behind this crop is set out on
Muga Rearing, the crop
seasons on Muga Crop
Calendar, and the economics on
Economics of Muga Culture.
Training programmes open to rearers are listed under
Training.