The silk tradition is one of the oldest in India and sericulture is a labour concentrated industry. It demands nurturing of silkworms, which are exceedingly ravenous. A pound of worms may exhaust a tonne of mulberry leaves in a year. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are the states producing unprocessed silk. In 1980-81 production of silk was 5,000 tonnes. As Japan has pulled away from this industry, India stands a very good chance to fill in the breach. The country would need 30,000 tonnes in near future. India brought in almost 250 crore rupees worth of foreign exchange through export of silk items. China however, continues to top the world in production of silk and its exports.