Bangladesh has a plan to revitalise the silk industry. The number of silk farmers has plummeted to around 2,000 from 10,000 only a few years ago. The plan is to bring in Chinese help and increase silk production. Bangladesh's silk industry is one of the oldest in the world. It specialises in high-quality mulberry silk -- widely known as Bengal or Rajshahi silk -- produced by the larvae of moths fed on fresh mulberry leaves and used for luxurious items of clothing. After around 40 days, the worms start to form cocoons -- by spitting out saliva around their bodies -- which are then placed in bamboo frames before being harvested.

The cocoons are then boiled in hot water, killing the worm inside and separating the ultra-thin threads, which are coiled on huge bobbins and hung out to dry. Each cocoon contains around 500 meters of thin thread. The dried threads are sent to a mill where workers join several threads together and put them onto looms to make cloth.

This material is then boiled, washed and waxed before being sent to tailors to make mostly saris, tunics and dupattas. With the booming of the Bangladesh economy -- it grew over 7.5 per cent last year -- demand for Rajshahi silk has increased several fold.