The Official Website of Sericulture Department of Nagaland

On earliest authentic reference to silk is to be found in the chronicles of Chou-king of China about 2200 B.C. Legend attributes the unraveling of silk's secret to the Chinese Empress XI Ling Shi when she was sitting under a mulberry tree with a cup of tea before her, a silk cocoon from the tree accidentally fell into the tea cup. Attempting to remove the cocoon she discovered that she could unwind a very fine glistening thread from the softened cocoon. Chinese emperors guarded the secret of silk in the province of Chan-Tong for hundred of years and displayed its beauty to foreign visitors and fancied it as "The hair of Sea- Sheep". In Hang Zhou summer palace, the oldest silks estimated to be 4500 years old are on view even now.

Then the Chinese immigrants started sericulture by about 1200 B.C. in Korea. The industry later spread to Japan during 300 B.C. when Semiramus, a General in the army of Empress Singu- Kongo, invaded and conquered Korea. Among his prisoners were sericulturists whom he took to Japan. Later this industry is said to have spread to India through Tibet when a Chinese Princess, carrying silkworm eggs and mulberry tree seeds in her head dress, married the King of Khotan in Tibet by about 140 B.C.

Sericulture involves a series of Bio-technological processes for the production of silk which provides multiple ways of income generation through the different stages of activities from plantation of host plants, rearing of silkworms and post cocoon activities of Textile technology. It is a land based, labour intensive Agro- based industry suitable in the rural areas. This industry is rightly known as "The Industry of the Poor' that produces the 'Queen of Fabrics'.

Sericulture mainly deals with five types of silkworms that feed on different host plants to produce various qualities of silk, viz. Bombyx mori (Mulberry silkworm) feeds on Mulberry leaves, Philosomia ricini (Eri silkworm) on Castor leaves, Anthraea assama (Muga silkworm) on Som and Soalu leaves, Anthraea proylei (Temperate/ Oak Tasar silkworm) on Oak leaves and Anthraea mylitta (Tropical Tasar silkworm) on Terminalia leaves.

Disclaimer:Sericulture Department does not guarantee complete acuracy of the content on the site, though the greatest care has been taken. Information on the site can be taken for personal use in the form of printouts etc. No part of the site can be taken and used on other websites or for Commercial use without the written permission from Sericulture Department Nagaland. The projects/schemes information on the site are brief outlines only, for details you may contact the department either on the email or on our mailing Address.

      [TOP]