GUWAHATI, July 12: Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati have conducted extensive study on eri and muga silk in Assam, the research output of which is set to play a very significant role in formulating development strategies in the sector.
The ‘Diagnostic Study on Weaver’s needs in respect of Eri and Muga Silk,’, under aegis of World Bank-financed Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART), primarily focuses on the existing design value chain of eri and muga silk in Assam, right from weaving (supply side – value creation) to marketing (demand side – value delivery), and formulation of design management strategy to aligning demand and supply.
Among the first such reports in this sector, the final report has already been accepted by the World Bank consultants.
The study was conducted by Pratul Chandra Kalita, associate professor, department of design, IIT Guwahati, and Prof. Amarendra Kumar Das, department of design, IIT Guwahati.
Kalita identified five strategic design management interventions for alignment of demand and supply side of the design value chain of eri and muga silk.
The report describes the strategies with a detailed plan.
“The five design management strategies formulated are: skill development and skill-upgrade strategy, design studio and digital design bank, system design solution for integrated supply chain management, frame loom and a new semi-automatic loom to improve productivity and quality, attracting weavers for eri-muga weaving,” the statement said.
“Such an in-depth study with extensive scientific field research from a design management perspective has been conducted for the first time. The research team could gather and demonstrate very insightful interpretations on the basis of a huge amount of field-level data,” a statement from IIT Guwahati issued here on Monday said.
The Assam Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Services Society (ARIAS) is keen to implement the strategies proposed in the report.
The survey, which encompassed 1,282 weavers, was carried out with primary data collected through structured questionnaires for weavers, sellers, cluster level designers, dyers and yarn suppliers.
The study reached out to weavers in eight districts: Jorhat, Kamrup, Majuli, Lakhimpur, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, Charaideo and Biswanath.