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

as always shoM} to be a high-risk enterprise involving many
uncertainties (Charsely 1986: 96-97). A promising batch may well end
in a total loss due to some disease, which, the rearer is not able to
control nor when any constructive extension advice is forthcoming. In
order to understand the performance status of the sericulturists, an effort
has been made to analyse the productivity levels and their accompanied
features in tenns of land status, scale of operation and labour use. These
are also further looked into across certain socio-economic categories.
This is followed by an analysis of certain crucial factors including the
socia-economic, cultural and technological factors, institutional support
and personal factors that playa significant role in the performance of the
sericulrurists.
Levels of Productivity and Performance
The status of sericulture performance for the sericulturists could
be understood by looking into the productivity index at three levels
namely. land, labour and seed. Table 4.6 portrays the levels of all these
producti\iry levels in terms of land use, scale of operation and labour
use. Table 4.7 presents the average productivity levels across family
types, caste and land size classes. The range of yield per acre of
mulberry land (indicating the land productivity) is between 128 and 500
kgs with an average of 326 kgs. The range of yield per 100 person days
(indicating the labour productivity) is between 42 kgs and 156 kgs with
an average of about 87 kgs. The range of yield per 100 DFLs (indicating
the seed productivity) is between 20 and 45 kgs with an average of 34
kgs. A look at the average yield of land, labour and seed
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