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

variation, in favour of sericulture. There are quite a few cases in E N
Pura of widowed mothers left alone to take care of themselves.
However, this hardly happens in a sericulture family where an extra
female is always an asset. There is a higher labour concentration of
female labour in sericulture, especially at later phases of the rearing. At
the same time, household work continues to be women's inevitable and
taken-for granted attribution. So, the presence of an additional family
woman becomes an added advantage for sericulture families. This
naturally happens in a matro-nuclear family.
What happens to sericulture if an extended sericulture family is
broken into multiple nuclear families? In such cases, sericulture
generally becomes expanded as it is generally adopted by a majority of
the newly formed nuclear units in the place of a single extended unit.
This is what happened in the case of Narendran. His was the only mixed
extended family in Seripura, which split into four nuclear families,
recently. Except one family all others have adopted sericulture. The only
non-adopter has been little involved in sericulture even when they were
all pan of a single family. There are also cases in which, in the process
of break-up, even some sericulture-interested persons may have to give it
up as it happened in the case of Rajamani.
Rajamani, a large farmer in E N Pura, was the main sericulturist in his parental
house and was domg well. He was unmarried at that time. His married brother was
looking after the other agricultural operations. When he got married, he started a
nuclear family. His wife was unfamiliar with sericulture. His brother was also not
any more part of Ius family now. Thus, there was no one to take care of the diverse
farm actIviues in the seven acres of irrigated and 3 acres of rain-fed lands that he
had inherited Moreover, there was no competent person available other than
lumself to take an active part in sericulture. He has a contract labour whose service
has been fully utilised for agriculture operations. In any case, no sericu1ture is
successful without a full-time family labour. He was left with no other option but to
give up sericulture as he could no more give due attention to sericulture along with
Ius active participation ill the diverse agriCUltural operations.
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