A visit to a Cambodian Silk Farm

 I visited a silk farm on the outskirts of Siem Reap in Puok District, a half-hour drive from the city centre. I was on a free tour arranged by Artisans Angkor, an establishment that creates job opportunities for young people living in rural areas, while promoting traditional Khmer craftsmanship and industry. Although our tour guide was down with high fever that morning, he made a fair attempt to engage and joke with all of us.   

Mulberry farm

The tour was highly informative; we were given a detailed understanding of the silk manufacturing process. We saw how mulberry leaves are grown, larva feeding on the leaves till they weave a cocoon around themselves which can be up to 1 km in length! The cocoons are then sunned so that they soften and the silk fibre can be easily obtained, during this process most of the silkworms die. This was particularly discomforting to learn about.

Silkworms feeding on mulberry leaves

Life cycle of a silkworm

The next step is reeling, where the filament from the cocoon is unwound. There were a couple of women seated next to a large round container with boiling water, delicately executing this task.  We then got to see and feel the raw silk that had been obtained thus far. It takes between 2000 to 3000 cocoons to make one pound of silk! Upon learning this fact, I realized that silk production or sericulture is an extremely time consuming and delicate process requiring absolute precision, without which you would need to redo any part of the line process again. I also thought back to all those times that I had bought a silk scarf while having negotiated hard for a good rate. Of course, I had no insight into how complicated the process can be.

Raw silk in different dyes

We then learnt about how raw silk is made into fine silk, and then dyed into different colours using natural dyes. It was interesting to see women there using their lower legs to fine tune a design in the silk scarves. In the end, we saw lots of women, most of them pregnant, weaving beautiful silk scarves of different colours and designs in handlooms. A wrong move while the fine strands pass through the loom meant redoing the entire process again. Just for context, it takes 4 – 5 days to complete one silk sari. India being the world’s second largest producer of silk has a lot of variety.

Colourful, well designed silk scarf

After seeing the entire process, I made a small mental note to myself that the next time I go silk shopping, I will not negotiate hard.