Narrator: To make muga silk,
laborers must unwind a muga caterpillar's cocoon
into a single long seamless thread.
And to make just one sari,
about 1,000 cocoons need to be unraveled.
A sari made of muga silk can cost up to $6,500,
thousands more than other saris.
But the caterpillars needed to make the cocoons,
also called muga seeds,
might be in danger of disappearing.
And without them, farmers can't produce muga silk at all.
So why is muga silk so expensive?
And what's hurting the caterpillars needed to make it?
Muga can only be made in the Assam region of India.
It's so central to the culture here
that there's even a traditional song
about the golden thread.
Muga silk is unique
because of its naturally lustrous gold color.
It can last up to 100 years,
and it's said to offer protection
by absorbing 85% of harmful UV rays.
But these properties also make it more expensive,
and the labor and expenses required to make muga silk
bump the price even further.
Narrator: They pick a male and female moth to mate
and tie the female to the khorika,
a stick with a hook made of thatch grass or twine.
This is where the female will lay its eggs.
Rearers then transfer the khorika to a som tree,
the host plant for muga worms.
Here, tiny ash-colored larvae, known as chai muga,
hatch and begin to feed on the leaves.
But the larvae are vulnerable at this stage,
so farmers need to keep a watchful eye
to ensure they can form the cocoons
needed to make muga silk.
They shoot clay pellets into the fields
to keep potential predators at bay and protect the larvae.
After one or two months,
they can collect the mature caterpillars.
Narrator: Here, the caterpillars rest
and weave their cocoons for three days,
until they fully empty the silk glands
and enter pupation.
Not all cocoons are used for silk.
Some are stored in the chakori pera,
a bamboo box for keeping cocoons and moths
so farmers can continue breeding muga worms.
The hatched cocoons are used for rougher fabrics,
such as winter clothes and blankets.
But the most expensive muga fabrics
come from unhatched cocoons.
That's because the silk in these cocoons isn't torn
and can be unraveled into a continuous thread.
Besides being limited in which cocoons they can use,
weavers also need a lot of them.
For weavers who buy cocoons, this doesn't come cheap.
Narrator: To produce 1 kilogram of muga yarn,
Monika needs 5,000 cocoons,
which is enough for about five saris.
And that 1 kilogram could take her a week,
because to make the yarn,
she needs to reel the golden thread,
a process that demands special care.
Traditionally, the Assamese add dried banana peel
or paddy thatch ash to the mixture,
which degums the cocoon and gives the thread a better sheen.
And when it comes to muga, the shinier the silk,
the more valuable it will be.
Two people then use a bhangoi to carefully reel
the long muga silk threads in a continuous motion.
Reelers gently pull from several cocoons
and join the thin strings together
to make one thicker thread.
They must make sure each thread has a consistent thickness,
or the yarn won't be as valuable.
Finally, the rearers load the muga silk yarn
onto bamboo looms,
where Assamese women weave it into the desired fabric.
Some of the most intricate saris
made from regular silk can cost $250 in India,
but the same design on a muga silk fabric
can kick the price up into the thousands.
Muga silk is the pride of Assam,
which accounts for almost all of India's
muga silk production.
But the profits are limited.
Narrator: While muga farmers work tirelessly
to ensure the moths survive, it's not only up to them.
The muga moth is continuously threatened
by the climate crisis.
Muga silkworms are reared outdoors,
and exposure to even the slightest change
in temperature and humidity can wreak havoc.
During high temperatures in 2018,
farmers had to delay rearing for 10 to 15 days
to avoid silkworm deaths.
Losing this time during peak commercial season,
when production is ramping up,
means producers can end up with less muga silk to sell.
Narrator: These chemicals have toxic effects
on the muga moth that impact its mortality
and ability to reproduce.
This can threaten the relatively low production
of muga silk,
compared to other expensive Indian-made silks,
like mulberry silk.
Only about 239 metric tons of muga silk
were produced in India in 2021.
Compare that to over 24,000 metric tons of mulberry silk
that were produced in the same year.
According to Jitul,
this doesn't meet global demand for muga,
and it drives the price even higher.
The limited supply of authentic muga silk
has led some producers to fill the gap with fakes.
To combat the rise of fake muga,
in 2007, the Indian government designated Assam muga silk
as a protected geographical indication, or GI, product.
This means authentic muga silk can only come from Assam.
But Jitul doesn't believe it's done much
to help Assam's muga silk production.
Narrator: That's why Jitul and other muga farmers
are relying on environmental conservation efforts
now and in the future
to ensure the survival of this millennia-old fabric.