Exploring the involvement of women’s participation in silk industry in Manipur, India

Silk is one of the most commercially and traditionally valued products in Manipur. It has a deep-rooted history in Manipur, practiced by farmers for generations, which benefits small-scale farmers with low investment and high returns. The present study was conducted during the year 2023-2024 in Imphal West District, Manipur, entitled “Exploring the Involvement of Women’s Participation in Silk Industry in Manipur”. A total of 120 respondents from four villages i.e. Khurkhul, Khonghampat, Loitang Khunao and Awang Potsangbam Khullen were selected using an ex-post-facto research design. The needed data were collected through a face-to-face structured interview schedule. Structured interviews covered varied independent variables such as age, education, family size, landholding, annual income, extension contact, year of experience, attitudes of women respondents, social participation, and type of house. Findings showed that majority of women respondents tend to be older (56.67%), educated up to high school level (34.17%) and come from small families (55.00%) with land holdings between 1-2ha (46.67%) and moderate incomes (64.17%). Many live in simple Kutcha houses (44.17%) and have an average amount of experience in silk industry (61.67%). Even with this background, these women respondents show a low interest in social participation (58.33%), medium attitudes towards the silk industry (50.83%). The respondents were classified into three categories as low, medium and high category based on their overall participation of women respondents in silk industry. It established that the majority (38.33%) had a medium participation rate, followed closely by 34.17% of high participation, and only 27.50% experienced low participation rates. Regarding decision making, once again, it emerged that medium category had taken the lead by 61.67%, and high category scored 36.66%, with only 1.67% belonging to low category. The study also identified constraints such as time consuming, pain in hands, legs and back, lacks of funds, subsidies by govt. agencies, discomfort in selling cocoon according to quality, unavailability of raw materials, etc. were some of the important challenges faced by women in silk industry.