Shah to meet sericulture farmers amid Centre’s efforts to eliminate silk import

BJP national president Amit Shah is scheduled to meet sericulture farmers at Channapatna on Saturday in the backdrop of the Centre’s allocation of ₹2,168 crore to boost indigenous production of quality silk and reduce dependence on Chinese silk.

Sericulture farmers from Ramanagaram, Mandya, Mysuru and other parts of Old Mysore region account for a substantial portion of the country’s 30,000 tonnes of silk production per annum.

On March 21, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the ‘Integrated Scheme for Development of Silk Industry’ to improve productivity and quality of silk by adopting technology.

Though raw silk production in the country has increased over the last few years, Chinese silk to the tune of 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes continues to be imported every year to meet the demand for quality silk by weavers. The clamour for quality silk has only grown after reelers introduced Automatic Reeling Machines in the region, said Chigari N.Y., Chief Executive Officer of Koppa Sericulture Farmers Producer Company Ltd., Maddur, a Government of India enterprise.

“The ARM requires 400 to 450 kg of good quality cocoons in each shift. If the ARM runs in two shifts, 800 to 900 kg of cocoons are required. If the cocoons are not of good quality, the machines reject them,” he said.

Former Minister C.P. Yogeshwar, who represents Channapatna Assembly constituency, admitted that sericulture farmers in the region are facing issues relating to production of quality cocoons. “They need technology support,” he said.

In view of the demand for quality cocoons, sericulture farmers are facing a competition at the Cocoon Market in Ramanagaram from the farmers of Tamil Nadu, who had adopted technology and were rearing good quality cocoon. “Traditional sericulture areas have fallen behind in producing quality cocoons owing to their failure to adopt technology,” Mr. Chigari added.

Convener of Karnataka State Sericulture Farmers’ Welfare Committee Puttaswamy Gowda said the Sericulture Department should make available tools for scientific assessment of cocoon quality at the markets to ensure a fair price for the producers.

Mr. Gowda said the Centre should increase the import duty on imported silk to protect the interests of indigenous farmers. Farmers in the region should be given incentives to take up sericulture, he said.

Through its Integrated Scheme for Development of Silk Industry, the Centre plans to increase silk production to 38,500 tonnes by the end of 2019-20. Plans have also been drawn up to increase the production of import substitute bivoltine silk from the existing 5,200 tonnes to 8,500 tonnes by 2020.