Question

What is the production process of silk?

Answer 1

A. Stifling:

1. It is a process of killing the pupa present inside the cocoon.
2. The pupa is killed before it ruptures the cocoon.
3. It is killed by hot water treatment or by dry heat or fumigation.
4. The pupa is killed to avoid the damage to the cocoon by its rupture.
5. In silk industries complete and intact cocoons are used to get the continuous silk fibre.
6. The silk fibre is loosened by hot water treatment.

B. Reeling:

1. Reeling is a process of separation of silk fibres from the cocoons and winding around the wheel.
2. In this process, fibres from many cocoons are thrown together, twisted and reeled around the wheel.
3. The waste cocoons and broken silk fibres are also used to prepare silk threads. This process is known as spool and silk is known as spun silk.
4. Such raw silk threads are supplied to textile industries for weaving clothes.

C. Degumming:

1. It is a process in which Sericin (the outer covering of silk fibre) is removed and raw silk fibre is obtained.
2. Degumming makes the silk soft and lustrous.

D. Silk production in India:

1. Many states in India run the sericulture as cottage industry.
2. Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are the leading states in the production of silk.
3. Another type of silk is also produced in Orissa, Assam, Bihar and many other states of North India.
4. More than 27500 villages run sericulture as a small scale cottage industry.
5. More than 4 million people have got employment in sericulture.
6. For regulation and development of silk industries, a Central Silk Board is established at Bangalore.
7. Research and training programmes are conducted at many places, through this centre.