TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND PROBLEMS INVOLVED IN MUGA CULTURE OF ASSAM : A CASE STUDY OF GOLAGHAT DISTRICT

The golden Muga silk Culture of Assam is as old as Assamese culture. Even today it occupies a very important place in life and culture of Assamese people. Muga silk is a symbol of rich Assamese culture and a part of traditional attire of this region. It is a pride of Assam. Presently, Muga culture has been providing bread and butter to nearly 30,000 families in Assam alone. Assam is the largest silk producing state in the country alone contributes about 99% of the total muga raw silk production. The Muga silk cloth is considered as the Queen of all fabric due to its durability and elegant lustrous natural colour. Muga silk is supposed to be one of the costliest fabrics in the textile world. There is a bright prospect of Muga culture in the North –Eastern part of India including Assam.In this article an attempt has been made to highlights the traditional knowledge involved in Muga culture among rearers of Assam and to find out what type of problems they have to faced by this unique culture. The study is based upon both primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected with the help of questionnaires and interview schedule. Secondary sources of data were collected from Regional Sericulture Research Station Rohroiya, Jorhat , Central Muga Eri Research and Training Institute Lahdoigarh, Jorhat, Department of Sericulture Golaghat, Directorate of Economic and Statistics, Golaghat. Data also collect from various books, journals both official and non official records and newspaper etc.