Eri silkworm weaves cloth by itself
Source: Hueiyen News Service / N Sanajaoba Meetei

Imphal, April 20 2012: Believe it or not, but it's true.

Eri silkworm can weave cloth all by itself and which is ready for use instantly.

The idea for producing silk clothes entirely by Eri silkworm was first brought to Manipur by one Dr K Chaoba who is a scientist at the Regional Tasar Research Institute, Mantripukhri.

With the implementation of the new idea, a weaver can produce silk clothes without having to spin thread or weave them just by letting the Eri silkworm to do the job.

This has made rearing Eri silkworm one of the most profitable businesses in Manipur today.

Dr Chaoba showing a cloth weaved by Eri silkworm

Speaking to this reporter, Dr K Chaoba said that almost all people are aware that silkworms including those which feed on caster plants (Eri silk worm) produce oval shaped cocoons.

However, in case of Eri silk worms, if they were are spread on a flat surface instead of spreading them among the leaves, they produce flat shaped cocoons like a sheet of cloth.

The length and breadth of the cloth depends on the area where the Eri silkworms are scattered.

Dr Chaoba informed that Eri silkworms perform their works during night and it takes only two nights to weave a cloth .

And if we desire to increase the thickness of the cloth, we can spread another layer of Eri on top of the already weaved cloth.

Dr Chaoba explained that to make a cloth of 6 feet in breadth and 6.5 feet in length, at least 4000 Eri silk worms would be needed.

The cloth of this size weight about 2.5 to 3 kg.

The cloth thus made would fetch around Rs 1500.Since the thread produced by Eri silkworm is very weak, it cannot be spun by machine and hence it has to be spun by hand or manually.

So, the new process of using Eri silkworms to weave silk cloths all by themselves is becoming more profitable to weavers.

He also informed that the clothes weaved by Eri silkworm can control the body temperature by absorbing body sweat unlike any other clothes.

It is also believe to have curative power for certain skin diseases.