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

Strategies and Prospects. These only require further emphasis, in the
context of the analysis of interactional networks as regards labour in the
context of sericulture. The nature of sericulture operation is such that
there needs to be an assured labour system for its successful
performance. This is especially true when there is B. greater dependency
on hired labour. As seen earlier, there are a few types of labour that
ensure such assurance. What is emerging is that the nature of demand
for labour and the status of labour class are undergoing radical changes.
The traditional regular contract system is evidently disappearing in
Seripura. This change, however, has not much affected the practice of
sericulture as the system operating in the village is labour-reductive and
family-labour-intensive. It is labour-reductive because of the practice of
branch-feeding instead of leaf feeding and the reduced number of
batches and increased scale of operation. It is family-labour-intensive as
it is practised mainly as a household enterprise with a high involvement
of family labour.
The traditional regular contract system of labour, however, is still
very much practised in the K K Pura and E N Pura. With the advent of
sericulture, this system that has traditionally been confined to the large
fanners, has been adopted even by the medium and large fanners who
have taken up sericulture. Nevertheless, the change processes are
obvious even in these areas. The terms and conditions have to be revised
for better, in the interests of the labour to sustain the system. Moreover,
the skilled contract labour system has started emerging, in E N Pura as a
substitute to the traditional system.
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