SERICUL TURE AND THE PROCESS OF CHANGE - Institute for ...

Of the eighty per cent participants of the work force in sericulture
households, about 48 per cent are active and the rest are passive. Among
the active participants, while the males constitute about 33 per cent, the
females are less than half the size of the male active force. Among the
passive participants, while the females constitute about 25 per cent, the
males are less than one third of the female passive force. Looking at the
age structure, the majority of the active participants belong to the 15 to
29 age category, closely followed by the 30 to 40 age category. The
males are predominantly seen in the fonner category while the females
are more in the latter category. Of the passive participants, the males are
concentrated in the third age category while the females are spread out
among all the first three categories, though there is a predominance in
the first age category. The male non-participants are almost double the
size of the female non-participants. All these reveal the extent of gender
and age disposition towards sericulture.
There are more illiterates among the passive participants than
among the active participants. Similarly, illiteracy is more among the
female active participants than among the male active participants;.
Almost 85 per cent of the female non-participants are illiterates while
the illiteracy among the male non-participants is just about 38 per cent.
\Vhile there are none among the female non-participants who have
completed secondary education and above, there are as many as about
42 per cent of the male non-participants who have completed secondary
education and above. This indicates that the male non-participants are
quite educated unlike the female non-participants. As many as 25 per
cent of the male non-participants have a qualification of higher
secondary education and above. This could be seen in the light of the
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