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Increasing production can reduce raw silk imports

16
Apr '08

India produces about 28 crores of mulberry silkworm eggs per year. This production is met by three agencies namely, Private Licensed Silkworm Seed Producers (LSPs), State Departments of Sericulture (DOSs) and the National Silkworm Seed organisation grainages under the Central Silk Board (CSB).

The share of these agencies during 2006-07 was 74.0 %, 15.4 % and 10.6 %, respectively.

In the private sector, except for a few exceptions, most of the silkworm eggs are produced by the small time entrepreneurs and they have taken up this as one of the occupations to supplement family income.

During XI Five Year Plan, Government of India has given emphasis not only for higher production of silkworm eggs, but also for its quality.

Country needs about 596 lakh bivoltine hybrid seed and 2667 lakh cross-breed seed by the end of XI Five Year Plan (2011-12) to produce 5,000 m.t. of bivoltine raw silk and 18,000 m.t. cross-breed silk respectively.

In order to achieve this, various Schemes under Catalytic Development Programmes have been sanctioned through infrastructure improvement, upgradation of skills through training, etc.

In the present situation, it would be impossible for the Government grainages alone to meet the entire requirement of silkworm eggs and private players necessarily have to play a dominant role in production.

It would also be important that these private players have to take up production of quality bivoltine eggs which are very much necessary for the envisaged production of bivoltine raw silk. This would reduce the import of raw silk by the country and promote indigenous brands of silk.

Central Silk Board (Amendment) Act, 2006 addresses production of quality silkworm seed. It also addresses supply of certified eggs to the farmers; direct linkage between seed cocoon growers and silkworm egg producers; establishment of Seed Testing Laboratories, Seed Certification Centres, etc all aimed towards production of quality silkworm seed.

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