Silk rearing in Kashmir tottering

13 Apr '10

1 min read

Silk industry, the years-old flagship industry of Kashmir is on the verge of extinction as the farmers are reluctant to work for this industry. The number of farmers associated with silk rearing has shrunken to less than 20 percent as two decades back around 2,000 farmers were engaged in this profession in each district, but now only 400 farmers are left doing this job.

During the period of last 20 years, silk rearing has been witnessing turmoil as the educated youth class is showing apathy towards associating themselves with the sector. Reduction in rearing is of course impacting the silk production adversely. The cocoon production has reduced by 70 percent, despite the subsidies and sops from the government, to sustain the industry in the Valley.

Presently, Kashmiri farmers produce overall 700,000 kilos of cocoons, while two decades ago the total output of cocoon output was around 2.5 million kilos. The cocoon crop rearing continues for just one month and it starts from first week of May. In order to safeguard and encourage sericulture, the government offers all the necessary equipments as well as seeds and the expertise to the farmers, despite which output is falling.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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