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

m the village. The fourth phase, coinciding with the NSP period,
represents a rapid expansion of sericulture, beginning from 1990. During
this period, there is a high frequency of mulberry plantations. However,
if the latest trend is of any indication, there seems to be a decline again
in the growth, throwing out another phase, mainly due to the unsteady
price factor, higher uncertainties and risk, cost-effectiveness of other
competing crops and the increasing labour problem.
Socio-Economic Profile
The households of Seripura may be looked at by their landholding,
irrigation and sericulture status across caste and land size class
to provide a backdrop in understanding the significance of these aspects
in the adoption of sericulture. An attempt has also been made to
understand the socio-economic features of the members of sericulture
families (who form the main focus of the study) by looking into the age
and sex composition, marital status, activity profile and the intensity of
sericulture participation across age, sex and educational status.
Land-holding, Irrigation and Sericulture Status by Caste:
Though the village has seventeen caste communities, sericulture has
been adopted only by five communities namely, Kongu Vellalar,
Varmiar, ~aidu, Kurwnbar and Ehali. Table 4.1 gives the distribution of
households by land-holding, irrigation and sericulture status across
different communities. The KVG households account for about two
fifths of the total households in the village. Looking at the land-holding,
irrigation and sericulture status in the same order, the KVGs show a
progression. The same is true of other sericulture practising
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