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Anantapur-Hindupur sericulture belt Photo: Anil Sharma · Pexels License · source ↗

Anantapur-Hindupur sericulture belt

The Anantapur-Hindupur sericulture belt is the most concentrated bivoltine silk production cluster in Andhra Pradesh and one of the largest in southern India. It centres on Hindupur town and extends across the Hindupur, Madakasira, Penukonda, Lepakshi and Parigi mandals of the former Anantapur district (now distributed between Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts), with a contiguous spillover into Chikkaballapur and Bagepalli taluks of Karnataka. The belt accounts for the majority of Andhra Pradesh's mulberry area and bivoltine cocoon output.

Why this geography

Three factors made Hindupur and adjoining mandals the centre of AP sericulture: bore-well-accessible groundwater in the granitic-gneiss belt of the Penukonda-Lepakshi tract, a relatively cool, low-humidity climate at 700-900 m elevation that suits bivoltine silkworm rearing better than the coastal plain, and contiguity with the long-established Karnataka sericulture infrastructure of Chikkaballapur and Sidlaghatta only 30-50 km to the east. The Andhra Pradesh government invested early in extension and chawki rearing centres (Chawki Rearing Centre) at Hindupur and Madakasira from the 1980s onwards.

Production profile

Most of the belt's mulberry is V-1 (Mulberry Variety V1 Victory 1) raised under drip irrigation in paired-row plantations of 0.5-2 acres per household. CSR2 x CSR4 (CSR Bivoltine Races CSR2 CSR4) is the dominant silkworm hybrid; smaller volumes of CSR2 x CSR5 and reciprocal crosses are reared seasonally. A typical household rears 4-6 batches per year of 200-500 DFLs each. Cocoons are marketed daily at the Hindupur Government Cocoon Market and the smaller Madakasira market, operating under Central Silk Board auction rules (Cocoon Marketing Csb Auction).

Institutional anchors

Key institutions in the belt include the Andhra Pradesh State Department of Sericulture regional office at Hindupur, the Mulberry Germplasm Research Centre (MGRC) and Multi-end Reeling Cluster at Madakasira (a Central Silk Board Silk Samagra cluster), and a network of district-level chawki rearing centres operated by the state. CSRTI Mysore extension teams visit the belt regularly, and the Karnataka State Sericulture Department functions as a de-facto extension partner because of the cross-border continuity.

Adoption and economic role

Sericulture is one of the highest-return cash activities available to smallholders in the chronic-drought Anantapur belt — gross returns of Rs 1.5-3 lakh per acre per year are documented under good management, compared with Rs 25,000-50,000 per acre for rainfed groundnut. The activity has therefore been a primary diversification strategy promoted by the state and Central Silk Board to reduce drought-induced distress in the region. It remains constrained by groundwater depletion (failing bore wells), labour requirements for rearing and the volatility of cocoon auction prices.

Limitations

Bivoltine silk depends on assured drip irrigation that requires functioning bore wells — groundwater decline in the granitic-gneiss aquifer has retired some early sericulture acreage. Climate variability is shifting rearing temperatures outside the comfort zone of CSR hybrids, particularly in March-May. The belt is also tied to the small number of auction markets and reelers, exposing growers to price risk that small-scale collective bargaining has only partially offset.

See also: Mulberry Cultivation Sericulture, Mulberry Variety V1 Victory 1, Bivoltine Silkworm, CSR Bivoltine Races CSR2 CSR4, Cocoon Marketing Csb Auction, Chawki Rearing Centre.

Sources

  1. Andhra Pradesh Silk Production Statistics. Central Silk Board.
  2. Hindupur Cocoon Market. Andhra Pradesh Department of Sericulture.
  3. Multi-end Reeling Cluster, Madakasira. Central Silk Board Silk Samagra programme.