An Analytical Study on Determinants of Income Generation in Rural Sericulture Sector of West Bengal

Objectives: Sericulture, being low capital intensive, suits landless farmers and low-skilled artisans. This paper will focus on land productivity and technical efficiency of marginal artisanal classes and will measure their impact on income generation in the sericulture sector of West Bengal.

Methods/Statistical analysis: Statistical analysis begins with analysis of income trends from raw silk at national and state level with the help of secondary level data. For primary survey four sericulture rich villages in Malda district has been chosen, where 60 silk-artisan households were selected using stratified random sampling for enquiring about their livelihood and income generation. Simple linear regression technique has been used using OLS method to estimate the statistical models based on apriori hypothesis.

Results: The paper tests the statistical significance all income generating factors of the sericulture industry including land productivity, labour productivity, technological efficiency. Analysing the nation wide data set, the paper finds the area of mulberry cultivation and price of reeling cocoons are significant determinants in generating income in sericulture. However, primary data analysis collected from Malda district of West Bengal exposes that man days creation for this avocation and technical efficiency are significantly influencing income generation in rural sericulture sector while cost of implants has a serious detrimental impact on revenue generation by the silk artisans in West Bengal.

Conclusion/Application: Intensive approach for balanced regional development can help to survive this dying industry in West Bengal. Farmers, whose generation based expertise is helping the industry to sustain, should be enthusiastically supported with institutional help.