Highly educated youth from Vijayawada, and other cities of A.P. and Karnataka are making a beeline to the Andhra Pradesh State Sericulture Research and Development Institute (APSSRDI) at Kirikera near here.
Their attraction? To do a three-month training in various aspects of sericulture with a focus on silkworm breeding.
Allu Sony, an MBA (Marketing) from Vikas Institute, and Venkataramana, another graduate have been looking for entrepreneurial opportunities.
But in the face of stiff competition in every other field, they chose to undergo training in Chawki-rearing, which has been reportedly very rewarding for many growers. The demand is so high that serious learners pay ₹ 10,000 as course fee, ₹ 50-a-day for hostel accommodation on the 50-acre campus of the research institute, set up in 1995 by the Acharya N.G Ranga Agriculture University (ANGRAU).
Ms. Sony told The Hindu that Chawki means the first two stages of silkworm rearing and was most crucial period of worm rearing. It demands optimum temperature (26 Deg. to 28 Deg.), humidity 85%, hygienic conditions, quality tender mulberry leaf, good rearing facilities and above all, technical skills. “We get to see and learn all these at one place under the guidance of some expert scientists,” she added.
Technical expert P. Ramesha takes the youth through all the processes for them to understand the key precautions to be taken, and right practices to be adopted in the eight days from egg stage to the seed stage, which can be bought by growers and reared at their farms for cocoons.
Rich returns
Institute Director P. Jagannath Raju said, “Silkworm rearing for quality cocoons production has been the focus of the APSSRDI. This training programme helps set up a unit and run scientifically.
Currently a lot of 100 Disease Free Layings (DFLs) or disease-free eggs laid by a female moth costs ₹ 3,000 and are in great demand. The cost of production comes to ₹ 1,900 (₹ 700 for eggs and ₹ 1,200 providing right atmosphere), thus earning ₹ 1,100 in eight days from one batch.
While Ms. Sony plans to set up her own unit at Nuzvid on a 10-acre plot, Mr. Venkataramana has acquired 40 acres in Kadapa, which is very suitable for sericulture.
Among the 30 trained so far is Eranna, who works on a silkworm rearing farm of his uncle at Pavagada in Karnataka and dreams of opening his own by learning better management techniques.