View source for Pat silk

{{Short description|Silk from the cocoons of domesticated Bombyx mori from Assam, India}}
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[[File:পাটৰ কাপোৰ.jpg|right|thumb|A set of Mekhela-Chadar made with Pat silk.]]
'''Pat silk''' or '''White pat silk''', '''Mulberry silk of Assam''' ([[Assamese language|Assamese]]: [[:as::পাট|পাট ৰেচম]]) is a variety of domestic silk in [[Assam]], [[India]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Assam (India)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ouBCAQAAIAAJ|title=Report on the Administration of Assam|date=1913|pages=18|language=en}}</ref> It is usually brilliant white or off-white in colour. Its cloth can dry in shadow. The larvae of the ''[[Bombyx mori|Pat Silkworm's]]'' preferred food is ''nuni'' (white Mulberry plant: ''[[Morus alba]]'') leaves. The silk has a natural white tint and is known for its durability and glossy texture. Pat silk, like other [[Assam silk]]s, is used in products like [[mekhela]]s, [[Chador|chadar]]s and other textiles.
Domestic silk moths are closely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silk moths are different (having not been selectively bred) from their domestic cousins; they are not commercially viable in the production of silk.
In India, the major mulberry silk producing regions are [[Karnataka]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[West Bengal]], [[Tamil Nadu]] and [[Jammu and Kashmir (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]] which together accounts for 92% of country's total mulberry raw silk production.<ref name="Central Silk Board">{{cite web | url=http://www.csb.gov.in/silk-sericulture/silk/mulberry-silk/ | title=Mulberry Silk | publisher=Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India | date=3 July 2014| accessdate=29 January 2016}}</ref> Karnataka produces 9,000 metric tons of mulberry silk of a total of 14,000 metric tons produced in the country, thus contributing to nearly 70% of the country's total mulberry silk. In Karnataka, silk is mainly grown in the [[Mysore]] district. The mulberry silk produced in Karnataka is called [[Mysore silk]] and Pat silk is the mulberry silk produced in Assam.
Sericulture in Assam is an ancient industry which was brought by the Tibeto-Burman [[Bodo-Kachari people|Kachari tribes]].
==References==
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{{Silk fibre}}
[[Category:Economy of Assam]]
[[Category:Textiles and clothing of Assam]]
[[Category:Silk in India]]