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Interview with Ishita Roy

Ishita Roy
Ishita Roy
CEO & Secretary General
Central Silk Board & International Sericultural Commission respectively
Central Silk Board & International Sericultural Commission respectively

The Government has adopted a two pronged approach for the development of sericulture in the country
Ishita Roy discusses the pros and cons of Indian silk industry with Fibre2Fashion correspondent Mary Christine Joy. Synopsis: Central Silk Board (CSB) is a statutory body functioning under the Ministry of Textiles, India. Smt. Ishita Roy is an IAS officer who serves as the CEO and Member Secretary for the CSB. Other than this, she is also the Secretary General for the International Sericultural Commission (ISC). Excerpts:

Despite having a good production of silk, India is behind many countries of the world in terms of silk export. And to the contrary, India is one of the major importers of silk in the world. Why is it so?

In terms of exports, India is only third to China and Italy. I would like to state that export figures are not commensurate with the production figures, primarily because there is a heavy demand for silk in the domestic sector. We have been able to reduce the gap between demand and supply in the domestic sector by increased production through a strong R&D focus. This has significantly reduced the import of silk from China. However, it is worthwhile to note that significant work needs to be done to improve the quality of Indian silk matching with the best international standards. At this juncture, I am happy to state that under the 12th Plan period for our country, we have rolled out an ambitious plan to increase the production of the best quality, bivoltine silk which is also import substitute silk. I believe that by the year 2020, Indian silk can become self reliant.
 

My first question would be about your journey so far? Being associated with the Central Silk Board and International Sericulture Commission, how has your experience been? What all have you learnt from the industry?

First of all, I extend my sincere thanks to Fibre2Fashion for inviting me to talk about Indian silk industry, which provides livelihood opportunities for a large number of the country's rural populace. I had earlier worked with diverse sectors, eg. Social Justice and Empowerment, Finance, Information Technology, and Environment. My journey with the silk sector began in September, 2011, when I joined Central Silk Board (CSB) as its Chief Executive Officer. CSB is the only S&T organization for undertaking research on sericultural sciences in India. The innovations and technologies developed by CSB are being disseminated to the grassroots level stakeholders through a Centrally Sponsored Scheme called "Catalytic Development Programme (CDP)" with the assistance of the State Governments. My experience of working in CSB has been both challenging and exciting. Challenging, because the silk industry is a combination of different sectors like agriculture, animal husbandry and pure industrial activities. So, the gamut of activities is diverse, involving a long value-chain with varying interests of stakeholders. Also, the geographical space for the sector in our country is expansive and challenging. The focus, therefore, has been on synergy and to address the needs of the various segments of the value-chain. At this juncture, it is heartening to inform you that the silk industry has recorded its best ever performance during the year 2013-14. Raw silk production reached 26,480 MT indicating an all-time record production and a robust growth of 11.8 % in comparison to 2012-13. Spectacular growth has been witnessed in import substitute bivoltine silk with 29%, 51.47% in Tasar, 35.94% in Eri and 24.37% in Muga. Due to the increase in production of import substitute silk domestically, import of raw silk declined significantly to the level of 34.28% compared to previous year. My election to the post of Secretary General of the ISC at a global level is not only a fillip to the development of the silk industry in India, but also a good opportunity for India to forge meaningful collaboration with reputed R&D Institutes at the global level. It is also the right time to replicate the Indian success story in sericulture to the potential areas of Asian, African and Latin American countries. Significant work has been done for the last one and half year of ISC's functioning in India. Two new Member Countries; DPR Korea and Bangladesh and Associate Members from 7 countries have enrolled in ISC. We have also initiated many innovative activities eg. Volunteer Expert Programme, Scholarship, training, collaborative research programmes, etc. for the benefit of the member countries. I believe that the efforts of the ISC would lead to the improvement of productivity and quality among the various production bases across the countries in general, and India, in particular. Honestly, I have learned a lot from the industry. Though it is complex, this sector has all the inherent salient features to address the Millennium Development Goals of tackling poverty and ensuring gender empowerment, besides providing livelihood opportunities. It is interesting to note that the employment generation in the country in the sector is now estimated at 7.96 million persons.

Do you suppose that inclusion of silk as forest based activity will help in the development of the industry in India?

The wild silks of our country like Tasar and Muga are forest based activities. There are large patches of Tasar natural food available in many parts of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha which can be used for tasar silkworm rearing. This can be done without disturbing the biodiversity. In the same manner, large tracks of forest land can be cultivated with muga food plants for the benefit of tribal and forest dwellers of Assam and other potential areas.

Indian scientists are researching on machines that can increase the production of silk. Can you give an insight into what developments have been done in this regards so far?

In fact, we have done significant work in this direction for the past two years. For instance, the Automatic Reeling Machines (ARMs) to produce gradable silk were imported from China and Japan. However, CSB through its reputed R&D Institute, namely CSTRI at Bangalore has recently developed an indigenous ARM to produce high quality silk. While the imported ARMs are highly expensive, the indigenous product could significantly reduce the production cost. This has become a major break-through as many of the silk reelers can afford this machine to produce high quality silk. On the same line, we have also developed few improved machines for tasar and muga silks, which could significantly enhance production as well reduce drudgery. An innovative motorized reeling machine has been developed to increase production, productivity and quality besides reducing wastage and manpower. Wet reeling machines for tasar and muga, sizing machines for tasar silk, modified dry reeling machines for tasar, pressurized hank degumming machines and equipments for recycling silk reeling water have been developed. In addition, 7 technologies have been filed for patenting. Some of the recent scientific achievements by the R&D Institutes of CSB, namely CSR&TI, Mysore, CTR&TI, Ranchi, etc. in critical areas are as follows:- *Developed a new mulberry variety with 20% increase in yield, *Developed 3 bivoltine silkworm breed with yield of 65-70 kgs / 100 dfls. *Developed a highly productive Improved Cross Breed (ICB) which can produce gradable silk. *Adopted and popularized eco friendly / automatic disinfection model. We have also established interface with the industry by taking up crucial collaborative projects. Some of these are:- *With L'Oreal India on development of eri face mask, *With Raymonds on silk wool blends, *With Hitze Equipments Pvt. Ltd., on pupae by product, *With DuPont Group on tasar cocoon cooking and fabric bio-washing *Collaborative projects have also been taken up with IITs, Central Coir Research Institute, RMKV, BTRA, Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences on various industrial research applications.

India is among the largest producers of silk in the world. What makes India favorable for silk production?

I must remind you that India is the 2nd largest silk producer of silk in the world. The silk industry in India has been a legacy of its civilization, tradition, and culture, since times immemorial. Indian Silk is famous for its traditional designs and unique craftsmanship. All the known varieties of silks are produced in India. The country also has the largest human resources of eminent scientists, technocrats and specialists, and above all, outstanding artisans and weavers. India also can proudly boast of a robust R&D base in both basic and applied research in silk and sericulture. Hence, it is an ideal silk destination.

How is the demand for silk in the country? Is it increasing or is it decreasing?

As I explained earlier, at all India level, the aggregate consumption of pure silk textiles manufactured in this sector is 26 & 27 million metres in 2011 and 2012 as compared to 23 million metres in 2010, resulting in a positive growth of 17.39%. The increased demand is met by stepping up domestic production through productivity improvement and area expansion and also import of silk from China.

How is the demand for Indian silk in the global market? To which countries does India export most of its silk? Can you give some information in that regards?

As stated earlier, Indian export of silk is next to that of China and Italy. India trades in all segments of silk and silk products. Indian silk export destinations are; USA, UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Italy, and Hongkong. Our exports are now also being directed to the Middle East, UAE in particular, Australia and North American countries.

Sustainable practices in sericulture include peace silk, vegetarian silk, or ahimsa silk, wherein the silk is made out of the damaged cocoon after the moth comes out. But to what extent is practice followed in the country?

Eri silk production would rightly fit into the category of peace silk, vegetarian silk, or ahimsa silk. It is significant to note that 16% of the silk produced in the country is from Eri. In line with the past trend, spectacular growth to an enhanced level of 35.94% in eri silk production has been witnessed in the country during last year. This clearly indicates, beyond doubt, that the sustainable practice of ericulture is an economically viable enterprise in the country. At present, ericulture is practised in the NE states of the country. However, ericulture is slowly finding its space in other States like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, etc.

What initiatives have been taken by the government for the development of the Indian silk industry?

The Government has adopted a two pronged approach for the development of sericulture in the country. First and foremost, we seek to enhance the productivity and quality of silk through focused R&D efforts, better seed quality management and inculcating quality consciousness in all the production processes. Initiation of implementing the strategies in this direction has begun through the 300 units of Central Silk Board spread across different parts of the country. We have also initiated research in the frontier areas through forged collaboration with IITs, IISC, CDFD, NCL and also with reputed laboratories in Japan, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria and Italy. The second is a much more innovative and unique approach, whereby the innovations and technologies developed by CSB are being disseminated through a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CDP) by incentivizing investments among the grassroots level stakeholders. The State Governments also complement these efforts by contributing their part of the assistance to stakeholders and undertaking extension and marketing activities. This has been found very effective and we plan to implement more number of innovative and flexible schemes in the days to come.
Published on: 29/05/2014

DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.

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