1Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Agricultural Science, GKVK, Bengaluru, 560065, Karnataka, India
2University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, 580001, Karnataka, India
Online published on 13 December, 2019.
In Karnataka, the total number of handlooms is 40, 488; 34, 606 of these are working looms and the remaining are idle. Power looms have emerged and have been competing with handlooms, and have, it is hypothesized, impoverished handloom weavers. To test this hypothesis, this study was conducted in Thumkur district of Karnataka with a total sample size of 120. The results reveal that more than 40% of the weavers are illiterate and they exist below the poverty line. Handloom weavers make Rs. 1, 04, 632 per annum on average, less than 30% of the Rs. 3, 79, 472 earned by power loom weavers. About 75% of the respondents said that the handloom sector generates only nine months of employment at most but the power loom generates more. The net return obtained per handloom silk saree was Rs. 776, with a benefit-cost ratio of 1.22, much more than the Rs. 123 per power loom silk saree. Most handloom weavers experience health hazards, mainly leg pain (mean score of 64.50) and headache (mean score of 64.00). There is a need to take the community approach to promoting traditional handloom weaving by strengthening weavers’ cooperatives at the grassroots. It is necessary also to create awareness about health among weavers and extend benefits to them as part of social security.
