Traditional Muga Silk (Antheraea assamensis) Rearing as a Means of Rural Livelihood and Conservation Efforts among the Indigenous Communities of Assam

The Muga silk (Antheraea assamensis) rearing is confined to the North-East India, particularly, the Brahmaputra valley of Assam. This is perhaps, due to pleasant climatic conditions and distribution of wide range of muga host plants in this region. In Assam ‘Som’ tree provides the principal food for muga silkworms which produce the golden coloured silk that is very specific and prestigious to north-eastern states of India and found nowhere else on the globe. The north-eastern region of India, with total geographical area of 3,04,426 sq km, is situated in eastern part of India. It lies between 21.33 to 29.28° N. latitudes and 89.42 to 97.24° E. longitudes. The region is a part of eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot in the world hence endow with endemic flora and fauna. In this paper the researcher tries to the possibility of traditional way of rearing of muga, rural livelihood and conservation effort among the indigenous communities of the Brahmaputra valley in Assam.