Sericulture is one of the primary occupations for livelihood of poor people in tribal area. Most of tribal are involved in Sericulture. Tasar, Eri are the main forest based cultivation. Among these Tasar Culture is the major crop adopted by the tribals and practiced in respective areas. Out of the 6, 38,588 villages in India, sericulture are practiced in about 69000 villages providing employment to about 8.25 million people. Sericulture is providing livelihood for 9, 47,631 families. The tropical tasarculture in India involve two and half lakh aboriginal families to produce vanya (tasar) silk by growing wild silk-insect as their cultural heritage and livelihood. India continues to be the second largest producer of silk in the World. The total raw silk production in the country in 2015-16 are 28523 MT. Sericulture with its unique features plays an important role in upgrading the socioeconomic conditions of the rural folk and with employment opportunities to the educated rural youth and women. Therefore there is a need to provide appropriate forward and backward linkages with necessary technical backup will provide a gateway to the future prosperity of the industry. Basic sericulture activities are village-based; hence migration of people from rural to urban areas in search of jobs can be minimized. In view of the importance of sericulture enterprise for the rural development as well as its cultural bondage, the paper tries to enlighten and discuss the significance of sericulture and strategies to be taken for the sustainable development of Indian sericulture industry for the rural development. Present paper explores the possible livelihood opportunities derived from problem analysis and strategies to be adopted aiming at revolutionary sustainable livelihood development in the study area. This article will endeavor to show how “sericulture” a natural source of sustainable rural livelihood for tribal development, has brought about overall development of individual households, the village, and the community at large. The paper highlights the natural resources of silkworm and its food plants in Raigarh district, their utilization and needs for conservation as they act as sustainable source of livelihood for rural stake holders of the region.
