Question

Largest sillk-producing state of India is:
1. Karnataka
2. Bihar
3. Assam
4. Bengal

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : Karnataka

Concept-

• Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk.
• Although there are several commercial species of silkworms.
• Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied silkworm.
• Silk was believed to have first been produced in China as early as the Neolithic Period
• Silk is a natural protein fibre, some forms of which can be woven into textiles.
• The protein fibre of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. 
• The best-known silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity (sericulture).
• The shimmering appearance of silk is due to the triangular prism-like structure of the silk fibre, which allows silk cloth to refract incoming light at different angles, thus producing different colours.

Explanation- 

• Karnataka is the leading producer of silk in India.
• It produces an average of around 8,200 metric tonnes of silk every year.
• Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Assam are the top three states in terms of silk production.
• In India mulberry silk is produced maximum as compared to other varieties.
• In Karnataka, silk is produced in the given districts:
  • Mysuru
  • Kolar 
  • Ramnagara 
  • Bengaluru Rural
  • Chikkaballapura
  • Kolar

Thereby the largest silk-producing state of India is Karnataka.

• Mysuru and North Bengaluru are famous for silks and are called the ''Silk City” as they majorly contribute to silk production in India.
• Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu are the other major silk-producing states in the country.
• India has the unique distinction of being the sole country producing all the five known commercial silks, namely, mulberry, tropical Tasar, oak tasar, eri and muga.
• India is the second-largest producer of silk after China.