UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

Muga silk production in Assam is a distinctive, place-based agro-ecological livelihood system reliant on the semi-domesticated moth Antheraea assamensis and a narrow set of primary host plants, notably Persea bombycina (som) and Litsea monopetala (soalu). Because rearing is largely outdoor and aligned to seasonal brood cycles, muga sericulture is unusually exposed to climate variability and to longer-term climatic shifts that operate through temperature regimes, rainfall timing, humidity, and the frequency of extremes. This review synthesises evidence on how observed and projected climate change across India and the broader monsoon domain can influence muga silk production pathways in Assam, including host-plant physiology and leaf quality, larval survival and development, disease dynamics, cocoon traits, and spatial suitability for silkworm–host co-occurrence. We integrate findings from studies on North-East Indian climate trends, monsoon variability, extreme precipitation and hotspot emergence, and regional climate model projections with muga-specific work on host-plant diversity and stress tolerance, cocoon quality variation, pathogen identification, and climate-space distribution modelling. The synthesis indicates that climate change risks for muga sericulture are unlikely to manifest as a single linear decline; rather, risks will be episodic and season-specific, driven by shifts in brood-wise thermal and moisture stress, increased probability of high-impact rainfall extremes, and altered suitability overlaps between silkworm and host plants. Adaptation therefore requires coupled interventions across plantation management, brood scheduling and risk-buffering, disease surveillance, and climate-informed spatial planning.