Tasar cocoon rearing: a new job for Jharkhand Tribals

Tribals from Dukhiyadiah village are engaged in sericulture to tread towards building their sustainable livelihood from Tasar. This community managed and sustained collective Tasar production has changed the life of the 45 tribal families from Dukhiyadih village of Kuchai block of Saraikeal district.

Located in the middle of the forest, it is 42 kilometers away from the district headquarter at Saraikeal Kharswan. Deprived of any Government social and welfare schemes, the community hardly meet their very basic needs.

A non-profit organisation, Catholic Charities Jamshedpur under the aegis of Caritas India entered the village with its Gram Nirman, a Village Development Programme in the year of 2014. The programme is helping the most vulnerable section of the community of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to help themselves.

The organization identified the scope and opportunities of income generation activities with the available local natural resources. The community was linked with the relevant institution and agencies for capacity building/technical input to initiate the entrepreneurship through collective effort and action.

Today 1500 ‘Arjun’ trees are protected by the community for the rearing of Tasar cocoon for income generation as one of the major livelihood options during the off-season. Total 45 families of the village adopted the entrepreneurship and 35 women received training and capacity building on the rearing of cocoon from the respective departments and agencies.

Women were given technical knowledge on Tasar production. The community collectively protects the trees and look after the cocoons. Each cocoon is sold for 2 rupees to the vendor who comes to the village for collection. The average income of each family is 35000 rupees within three to four months. Likewise, there are 5 tribal villages who have also adopted the same entrepreneurship model for increasing their income.

This is the shortest livelihood activity where tribal families have maximum profit with less input and hard work. The increased income has changed the economic and social status of the tribal communities of Saraikela district, Jharkhand state.