Industries

The Garos have a tradition of self-sufficiency in many of the articles of everyday use, which have in time become part of their material culture. Among these may be mentioned their textile, their pottery, their basketry and the products of a large number of other crafts.

Their environment has been a generous provided. The forests provide an almost limitless quantity of timber, bamboo and cane, which are so necessary for their dwellings or for household articles. Their fields yield cotton for their yarn.

A brief account of the industries that flourish in the district is given below:

Weaving

Weaving is one of the most important vocations in the economic life of the Garos. The Garo Hills have for long produced short-stapled cotton and the weavers of Garo Hills are known for their exquisite skill in weaving various types of fabrics.

The principal products still are the Dakmanda and Daksaria. These are famous for their texture and their variegated colourful designs.

Cotton Ginning

Training centers for artisan weavers are located at Tura, Resubelpara, Baghmara, Williamnagar and Shyamnagar (Phulbari) in all the three districts of Garo Hills. There are also a number of Handloom Demonstration cum Production centers at Dilma, Tura, Rongram and Resubelpara. Silk weaving has also been introduced with the help of expert silk weavers recruited from outside the districts. About 2,000 handlooms have been taken up for intensive development in the districts.

At the present, however, the industry is confronted with many problems like dearth of trained technical personnel, absence of proper working sheds and non-availability at reasonable prices of such essential items as yarn, dyes and other chemicals.

Sericulture

Sericulture can be a very important source of subsidiary income for those families which are engaged in shifting cultivation, provided they can be persuaded to take up settled agriculture. Mulberry and other plants suitable for rearing Eri and Muga Silkworms grow well in the Garo Hills though most of the plantations are in the interior hills and forests. Like the cotton industry, this industry also faces problems as dearth of trained technical personnel, inadequate landholdings and dearth of rearing accommodation for individual silk-worm rearers and absence of research facilities.

Area and Plantation of Mulberry, Eri, Muga and Production of Cocoons

No of Farms, Nursery and Centres

Handicrafts

Garos are well known in north-east India for their handicrafts and textiles, specially for handloom industries. However, they produce only for local consumption and not in large scale. Most of the Garo handicrafts are Am (Mat), Kera or Kok (Conical basket), Ruan (winnowing fan), Gitchera (winnowing net), Chokki (chair), and domestic items such as Bamboo-spoon, rice stick, bamboo mug etc. The household furniture are made out of cane, bamboo and wood.

Small-Scale Industries

As many as 79 industries with a total strength of 576 workers have been registered in the district. These are engaged in great variety of undertakings as described below:

Bakery
Automobile work
Cycle Repairing
Tyre-Retreading and Vulcanizing Work
Furniture Making
Printing
Radio Repairing
Servicing of electrical & electronics appliances
Metal Works
Steel Fabrication
Rice, Flour and Oil Ghani Mills
Fruit Preservation
Saw Mills
Leather Footwear
Cotton Ginning
Tea Industry
Supari Processing
Rubber Sheet Processing
Tailoring, Knitting & Embroidery
Book Binding
Xeroxing
Audio Recording
Photography
Cable TV Networks
Distilled Water Manufacturing
Chalk Manufacturing
Bricks
Stone Crushing etc.

Cottage Industries

Some other types of industries in which people in the districts engage themselves are described below:

Carpentry, Bee-Keeping, Cane and Bamboo Work, Pottery, Pulse Processing, Black smithy etc.

Role of Industrial Cooperatives

At present there are 20 Industrial Cooperative Societies and 6 Handloom Weavers’ Cooperative Societies in Garo Hills Districts. The industrial cooperative societies as voluntary organizations of artisans and craftsmen seek to promote and develop the economic and cultural interest of their members. The main objectives of these societies are to provide for members economic facilities for obtaining raw materials, equipment and other requirements for the smooth running of their industries, to organize the industrial activities of members so that the maximum output is obtained with the minimum of effort, to give technical advice and assistance and to provide training facilities, to maintain the highest possible standard of work and design, to arrange disposal of finished product in most profitable manner as well as to provide finance to the members for industrial expansion.

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