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

operation alone (including the cultivation of major irrigated and semiirrigated
crops, rain-fed crops as well as the maintenance of mulberry
garden) has absorbed about 53,000 person days of work in the village.
This forms about four fifths of the total labour absorption in Seripura.
The rest of the labour is absorbed in the silkworm rearing aspect of
sericulture alone. By taking rearing and mulberry cultivation together,
sericulture accounts for more than one fourth of the total labour
absorption. The extent of sericulture labour absorption becomes
prominent within the context that mulberry occupies only six per cent of
the total cropped lands in Seripura.
~oreover,
the family labour absorption in the cultivation of
agricultural crops has largely been reduced with the emergence of the
task contract system, which was mainly the result of the large scale
migration of the traditional labour force and the subsequent labour
demand that had been discussed earlier. Looking at the extent of labour
absorption the three labour categories constitute almost an equal portion
of the labour absorption, with a marginal variation, predominated by the
contract labour followed by the other hired labour and lastly, the family
labour. However, the variation is quite marked, with the exclusion of the
labour in silkworm rearing. Thus, the family labour would form only a
little above one fifth while the contract labour would account for about
45 per cent of the total labour absorption, with the percentage of other
hired labour remaining almost constant. Moreover, the emergence of the
task contract system has increased the disguised labour among the landowning
classes, with the exception of the sericulture families. Thus, the
prevailing labour conditions including migration, increasing labour
scarcity and a higher labour demand and the emergence of the task
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