Gaurav Kumar, Niva Bara, Avinash Kumar, Shubham Kumar
The present investigation examined how tasar rearing shapes the livelihood of cultivators in the Saraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand, with fieldwork carried out across the Kuchai and Kharsawan blocks. A total of sixty tasar-rearing households were drawn through a multi-stage random sampling design, and first-hand information was gathered using structured interview schedules. The responses were summarised with simple descriptive measures, namely frequencies, percentages and average ranking. In the study area, tasar rearing operates as a forest-linked enterprise that remains commercially appealing to rural households. Tribal families have long pursued the activity both within natural forest tracts and around their homesteads. Most of the sampled cultivators belonged to Scheduled Tribe communities, fell within the younger and middle-aged brackets, and had schooling that generally did not exceed the middle-school stage. The full package of recommended tasar practices was not taken up uniformly; even so, selected interventions such as rearing on economic plantations, pruning, guarding against leaf gall and brushing by leaf-twig transfer were adopted either wholly or in part. Participation in tasar work was associated with visible gains in the skills, earnings and employment of the respondents. Yearly income attributable to the activity ranged between roughly Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 1,00,000, and the enterprise generated between 50 and 125 mandays of work. Every respondent reported improved food intake, while 98.00 per cent noted better housing, 75.00 per cent better education, 73.33 per cent better clothing and 23.33 per cent improved access to transport. The activity nevertheless remained exposed to erratic weather, pest and disease outbreaks, shortfalls in the supply of disease-free layings (DFLs) and thin technical support. Strengthening farmer awareness of recommended practices through ICT platforms and a range of extension approaches is therefore recommended.