Sericulture
The raising of silkworms and the plants they eat, to harvest cocoons from which silk thread is reeled.
Also: silk farming, silkworm rearing
Sericulture covers growing the food plant, rearing the worms, and gathering the cocoons. For mulberry silk, farmers grow mulberry bushes, feed the leaves to the worms indoors, and sell the cocoons to reelers. For tussar, muga and eri, the worms feed on other trees or plants, and some live in the open. India is among the largest producers of silk in the world and is the only country that produces all four main kinds: mulberry, tussar, muga and eri. Much of the work is done by small farming families, and many are women.