Assistant Professor,

Finance Department

Gauhati Commerce College

 Guwahati, Assam, India 

Abstract:

The Muga silk industry of Assam has been in existence since immemorial. The silk industry of Assam has flourished and progressed during the Ahom regime due to the care and keen interest taken by the ruling kings. During the supremacy of Ahom dynasty, the silk industry was greatly encouraged and this is particularly true in case of Muga silk. Turban or Pag, Cheleng, Churia, Mekhela, Riha etc are made of Muga silk were used by royal aristocratic or high ranking families at that time. The Muga silk cloths which are closely associated with the socio-economic and cultural life of Assamese people is considered a queen of all fabric due to its durability and elegant lustrous natural colour.The manufacture of Muga silk has been confined to Assam alone. There is a bright prospect of Muga silk industry of Assam as the demand for natural fiber has grown considerably in the global market. Therefore there is a possibility to explore the national and international market by depending the production base of Muga raw silk.

Keywords: Muga Silk, Market, Production, Customers

Assam has a long tradition of excellence in marketing handlooms products with wild varieties of silk and Muga is one of the kinds. In Assam Muga products have a definite traditional and cultural value. In today’s time Muga products find its importance in national and international market also. Silk culture or sericulture is a traditional cottage industry rooted in the life and culture of Assam. Sericulture comprises the culture of producing four varieties of silkworms namely mulberry (pat),Tasar, Eri and Muga. The traditional sericulture activities in Assam including Mulberry, Muga and Eri silkworms. Tasor silkworms are not produced in Assam. Again the production of Mulberry silkworms in Assam was very limited and at present it is almost nil.

Muga culture means production of muga cloths from muga worm. Muga worm is basically a wild variety. It  is commonly fed on ‘som’ tree in upper Assam and ‘sualu’ in lower Assam. Muga silk is generally light brown in color. Rearing of muga worm is done in of the district of Jorhat, Sibhsagar, Dibrugarh and Lakhimpur. The commercial reeling and weaving of muga silk products are done in Suwalkushi. However, Suwalkhusi enjoys monopoly in the production of muga finished products such as muga cloths (mekhela, chador)muga hand bags etc. Now-a day’s Tasar silk is used as a substitute of Muga silk. Tasar culture is distinct from the traditional sericulture mentioned earlier. Tasar culture in Assam is comparatively a new type of sericulture which exists with the growing importance of silk commercialization and poor production of Muga. Tasar products are similar to muga products and they are light brown in color. The difference between tasar culture and muga culture are that tasar fed on Sagun tree and the durability of muga products are more as compared to tasar products because muga threads are stronger than tasar threads. Firming of tasar worm is done in Orissa and weaving of tasar are done in Suwalkuchi.  Silk textile follows weaving process in two ways –Pre-weaving process of silk textiles and post weaving process of silk textile. The process of pre weaving process of silk textiles involves –

Cooking of cocoons-cocoon cooking or boiling is the work to make the cocoon fiber reel able by swelling, softening and a little dissolution of sericin. After cooking fiber ends are collected from boiled cocoons and then several fibers are reeled together by imparting twists. When a cocoon is finished to reel a new ends is to be supplemented to keep continuity of raw silk yarn. Reeling involves deflossing of boiled cocoons , end picking and uniting, twisting , reeling and re-reeling and other subsidiary works.

Ii Reeling of cocoons-Bhir or Bhowri is the most common process used for reeling in Assam. Reeling is done by two expert weavers with warm water by keeping the material and liquor at 1:20 ratio. Proper deflossing of cocoon is essential to get filaments end. Filaments are collected at the time to get the filament yarn. During reeling, raw silk is generally washed with water.

The post weaving process of silk textiles are—

I Silk handloom weaving-Handloom weaving in Assam is a traditional cottage industry .It has a great cultural relevance for the people of Assam. In Assam handloom weaving is done generally in Suwalkuchi in commercial basis. Also there is some small silk handloom weaving industries in Palasbari, Jorhat, Sibsagar, and North Lakhimpur.

Ii Dyeing of silk-The tradition of dyeing is closely connected with handloom weaving and it is an ancient art of Assam. Vegetable dying of silk yarn is useful practice of dying in Assam. Vegetables dyes are obtained from various parts of plants and herbs. Dyeing is done by boiling the vegetables extracts in certain concentration and then fixing the colour.

Stages of production of Muga have elaborate steps. The stages of production are as follows— the silk moth lays eggs. The eggs hatch and the larva feed on the mulberry leaves. When the silkworms are about 10,000 times heavier than when they are hatched they are now ready to spin a silk cocoon. The silk is produced in produced in two glands in the silkworms’ head and then forced out in liquid form through openings called spinnerets. The silk solidifies when it comes in contact with the air. The silkworm spin approximately 1 mile filament and completely encloses itself in a cocoon in about two or three days but due to quality restrictions the amount of usable silk in each cocoon is small. As a result 5500 silkworms are required to produce 1 kg of silk. The silk is obtained from the undamaged cocoons by brushing the cocoon to find the outside end of the filament. The silk filaments are then wounded on a reel. One cocoon contains approximately 1000yards of silk filament. The silk at this stage is known as raw silk. One thread consists of up to 48 individual silk filaments

Table1 Showing how frequently respondent buy muga products

Responses	No of respondent(out of 50)	% of respondent
Frequently	2	4%
occasionally	22	44%
rarely	26	52%
total	50	100%

From the table it is seen that 4% of the total respondent buy muga frequently.44% of the total respondents buy muga occasionally. Again out of total respondent 52% that is more than half of the sample customers buy muga products rarely

Table2 Showing how frequently respondents think expensive muga silk is-

Parameter	No of respondent(out of 50 sample)	% of respondent
Less expensive	0	O%
expensive	15	30%
Highly expensive	35	70%
total	50	100%

From the table it can be seen that none of the respondents, who are the customers of muga silk think it is less expensive.30% of the respondents think it is expensive.70% of the respondents think muga silk is highly expensive.

Table3 Showing how respondent think valuable muga silk is

Parameter	No of respondent(out of 50 respondent)	% of respondent
Highly valuable	18	36%
valuable	25	50%
Non-valuable	7	14%
Total	50	100%

 

The table shows that out of 50 respondents, 18 that 36% of respondents think that muga silk is highly valuable. Than 25 that is 50% of the respondents think muga silk is valuable again 7 that is 14% of the respondent think muga silk is non –valuable.

Table 4Showing from where respondents buy muga  silk

Option	No of respondents(out of 50 respondent)	% of respondents
shops	31	62%
boutique	8	16%
Factories of s Suwalkuchi	6	12%
Reliable agent	5	10%
total	50	100%

 

From the table it is seen that most of the respondents that is 62% of the respondents prefer to buy muga products from shops. While 16% of customers prefer to buy muga products from boutiques and 10% from reliable agent

Table 5 showing number of respondents stating their satisfaction with overall quality of muga silk

Parameters	No of respondents(out of 50 respondent)	% of respondents
Highly satisfied	5	10%
Mildly satisfied	15	30%
Neutral	15	30%
Mildly dissatisfied	10	20%
Highly dissatisfied	5	10%
total	50	100%

 

From the table it can be interpret that 10% of the total respondents are highly satisfied with the overall quality of muga silk, 30% are mildly satisfied , 30% are neither dissatisfied nor satisfied, 20% are mildly dissatisfied and lastly 10% highly dissatisfied.

 

Table 6 Showing customers responses about availability of muga products through online websites.

Options	No of respondents (out of 50 respondent)	Percentage of respondents
YES	50	100%
NO	0	0%
TOTAL	50	100%

 

The above table shows that 100% of the respondents will feel happy if muga products are available as means of online marketing

Table 7 showing number of respondents stating what silk influence the demand of muga silk

options	No of respondents(out of 50 respondents)	Percentage of respondents
Pat silk	22	44%
Eri silk	10	20%
Tasar silk	15	30
Others	3	6%
total	50	100%

From the table it can be seen that 22 respondents said pat silk influence the demand of muga products.10 out of them said eri silk influence the demand of muga products, 15 said Tasar silk influence and 3 said other silk influence the demand of muga products.

The demands of muga products are increasing and customers wants different varieties of muga products with different designs, motifs etc.The demand of muga is higher than its production. The main problem of muga market is lack of production. The inadequate number of labour and weavers scarcity of muga cocoons, environmental problems, and inadequate government supports for improving muga firming etc are the cause of lack of production. Muga silk also has international demand. Because of its quality and medical benefits, countries like Japan, china purchase muga silk. Thus there is a unique opportunity for muga silk. There is a growing market of muga in the international market but the demand of this market is a variable one that is sometimes the demand is too high and sometimes there is a low demand for muga. The international market is a fluctuating one. Maximum demands of muga are between the age group of 26-40 years female as muga now-a day is a status symbol good. According to the majority of respondents muga silk is considered as a valuable possession. The scare production or availability of muga silk is seen as a major problem. Due to this there is continuous rising price of muga products. Most of the customers find muga expensive and buy it occasionally or rarely.

From the study it was found that customers prefer to buy muga products from shop more than boutiques, factories and reliable agent. Most of the customers are satisfied with the quality of muga silk. Now-a days varieties of muga products are available in the market like chador mekhela, Riha , Churia, handbags etc. More than half of the customers are satisfied with the varieties available of products. It is also found from the study that majority of customers have no experience of purchasing muga products from online but they want to purchase muga products through online marketing because of its convenience. It creates an opportunity for development of online marketing system in future. Majority of the customers tend to buy others form of silk like pat silk, eri silk and others because of insufficient supply of muga and also the comfort of such silk.

The muga industries are facing the problems of inadequate supply of weavers and labours. Supply of weavers can be increased by attracting labour or weavers to handloom factories. Facilities like housing facilities, job security, bonus on festival season etc should be used to motivate customers. For solving the high cost of production of muga silk products appropriate techniques in production process should be used under the guidance of an effective supervisor who is able to act as an watchdog in the factories. As customers are treated as king of market therefore Assam muga products should be produced as per the requirements specification of customers. Therefore more varieties should be included in muga outfits .A well thought out plan and strategy should be developed for making entering the muga market in overseas market. There is a increasing demand of muga products in foreign countries and the demands should be meet by developing an effective overseas market. For this both government support and entrepreneurship among public are essential. Fraudulent practices regarding muga marketing should be strictly avoided, otherwise there is danger on the part of marketers to loose the faith of customers and thereby reduction in sales. The government should also take proper control measures for avoiding fraudulent practices performed by seller on marketing of Assam’s muga products.

The study shows that there is continuously growing demands for muga products both in domestic market as well as in foreign market. But there is a need to strengthen the marketing condition of Assam muga market by adapting efficient, adequate marketing strategy. For this effective supply of raw materials of muga products is needed. Effective supply of raw materials of muga is possible by increasing firming of silk. Growing entrepreneurship among local people, availability of proper financial assistance from various financial institutions. It will help in proper supply of silk cloths and also low or reasonable price can be fixed on these products. The muga market has high possibility of growth in future especially in Assam. For growth a customer centered market is to be adopted which main aim should be making a long term cordial relationship with customers by satisfying their needs

Reference

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