One of DevBhumi’s flagship programs in Uttarkhand is oak Tasar silk cultivation, which reflects the organization’s synergistic approach to forest conservation through enterprise development. This economic activity, which was started way back in 1995 as a strategy to conserve old stand oak forests in Uttarakhand, has been continuously providing sustainable livelihoods for local communities.
Based on the experiences gained in the oak Tasar silk sectors, DevBhumi now operates in complete silk sectors value chains and has also diversified the production into Eri and mulberry silk as well as in cotton.
The approach that is being followed is based on the value chain in the silk sector for which Devbhumi has built the capacity of the stakeholders on a wide range of issues in order to enable them to operate across the different value chain stages and as a result, Devbhumi’s handloom sector has become one of the recognized livelihood options for the participating households.
Over the last few decades locals mostly women are invited to learn skills like rearing cocoons, spinning, and weaving yarn, these activities also bring some social and economic equality among women by empowering them with income-generating opportunities and becoming participants in bringing a sustainable household income.
The natural raw material in Devbhumi’s case is a natural fiber that includes
While the silk yarn is produced from the cocoons locally by the Devbhumi artisans residing in remote Himalayan villages using the spinning mills known as Paletha in the local language. The natural yarn is then hand-dyed using the natural and eco-friendly Azo-free colors.
This dyed and dried yarn is then made into small rolls of yarn using a warping drum, now that the hand-operated looms to produced a shawl, scarf a stoll, capes, cushion cover, yard, etc
All the different stages of production are handled by the artisans of devbhumi.
DevBhumi Fabrics are produced by the highly skilled village communities mostly consisting of women in the remote villages of Garhwal Himalayas, these producers consist of cocoon rearers, spinners of yarn, and weavers, this fine quality handmade fabric is produced from the Silkworms that feed on oak, mulberry or castor leaves in the forest of the Garhwal regions. The cocoons are completely hand-spun into yarns by using the spinning machine, after which the produced yarns are naturally dyed, using the azo-free and natural dyes to produce a particular design, the yarn is then hand-woven using a locally sourced Handloom to create the visioned design.
The only two mechanisms used during the whole this process are the manual Hand spinning machine with which Spinning is the twisting together of drawn-out strands of fibers to form yarn and a manually operated Handloom that is used to weave cloth without the use of any electricity. Handweaving is done on pit looms or frame looms for the interlacing of two sets of yarn – the warp (length) and the weft (width) to produce the fabric.
Size - 100 cm X 215cm
Size - 65 cm X 185cm, Size - 70 cm X 200cm
Size - 30 cm X 165cm
Devbhumi Natural Products Producers Co. Ltd. is a company owned by its producers and is unique in its composition and vision. We produce, package and market the highest quality of natural products coming from the Uttarakhand Himalayas.
sales@devbhumi.com
+91 90 8475 6745
Mohabbewala Industrial Area, Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
