Silk road out of poverty for India's 部族の communities
Pointing to a television in her recently built mud and brick home, Indian 村人 Munia Murmu proudly shows off her new-設立する wealth, thanks to hundreds of squirming green silkworms.
Like thousands of other 部族の 村人s in India, Murmu lives in extreme poverty, and until recently could not afford enough food for her and her family.
But the 40-year-old decided to join others in her community farming wild silkworms in the forests of her home 明言する／公表する of eastern Bihar.
An Indian 部族の silkworm 農業者 adjusts strings of cocoons with moths, in the Banka 地区 of the eastern 明言する／公表する of Bihar, on August 6, 2015 ?Dibyangshu Sarkar (AFP)
Along with dozens of other women, Murmu 養育するs t he worms which produce silk threads which are in high 需要・要求する in India, Europe and the US for use in saris and other 衣料品s and home furnishings.
The mother of two also sells silkworm eggs to other rearers in this remote corner of India. During the 産む／飼育するing season, which lasts three months of the year, Murmu earns 50,000 rupees ($770) -- a 親族 fortune.
"I used to live in a tiny house with no 洗面所, no fans, nothing. Then I started keeping the silkworms and I 港／避難所't looked 支援する since," a beaming Murmu told AFP, pulling a shiny laptop out of a 抱擁する metal trunk.
Decorated with colourful murals of 部族の life on the 塀で囲むs, her home also has a room 献身的な to watching TV on the new 始める，決める, along with two 洗面所s and a water pump in her 前線 yard.
- 'Silkworms have changed our lives' -
Members of 部族の communities, also known as Adivasis, have 伝統的に been at the 底（に届く） of India's socio-経済的な ladder, with some of the worst 率s for poverty, 栄養不良 and life 見込み.
They have long 後部d silkworms in the dense forests of Bihar and 隣人ing Jharkhand 明言する／公表するs to make tasar, a 巡査-coloured silk coveted for its unique texture.
But 生産／産物 has 引き上げ（る）d in 最近の years, thanks to the 採択 of modern techniques, attracting new 農業者s like Murmu and 手渡すing them a way out of poverty.
地元の NGO Pradan has helped train the 農業者s in several ways, 含むing how to use microscopes to 診察する and 割引 病気d moths.
"We have (also) helped the 農業者s 工場／植物 arjuna trees on the wastelands here. These trees serve as hosts to the moths," said Pradan's Shamshad Alam.
India is the world's second largest 生産者 of all types of silk, 含むing tasar, after 中国, and is its largest 消費者.
The 栄えるing 産業 in Bihar 補足（する）s the 部族の communities' 伝統的な rice farming in a 地域 which 欠如（する）s irrigation and is at the mercy of 季節風 rains.
In a delicate 手続き, other members of Murmu's community 抽出する the silk thread from cocoons spun by the worms by boiling them to make them softer and collection easier.
It 普通は takes between 250 and 700 cocoons to make one sari.
Bhola Tudu, a silkworm rearer, said 利益（をあげる）s have 増加するd thanks 大部分は to a 正規の／正選手 供給（する） of healthy eggs from a 協同組合 始める，決める up by community members in their village.
"We do the microscopic examination of the eggs ourselves," said Tudu, as he sprayed 消毒薬 on leaves where the fluorescent green worms were feeding.
"We discard the bad ones and then buy the good eggs at a 名目上の price which 確実にするs optimum 利益（をあげる）s.
"The silkworms have really changed our lives."
An Indian 農業者 選ぶs up silkworms 粘着するing on the 支店s of Arjuna trees, in the Banka 地区 of the eastern 明言する／公表する of Bihar, on August 6, 2015 ?Dibyangshu Sarkar (AFP)
Silkworm 農業者 Munia Murmu shows off her new laptop at her home in the Banka 地区 of the eastern 明言する／公表する of Bihar, on August 6, 2015 ?Dibyangshu Sarkar (AFP)
Silkworm farming has changed the lives of 部族の 村人s in India's Bihar 明言する／公表する ?Dibyangshu Sarkar (AFP)
