Not many farmers produce superior quality of silk
Farmers who have separate rearing facilities and maintenance of temperature and humidity can rear a high yielding variety of mulberry silkworm.
Priyanka Saharia
Oct. 20th, 2023
According to data provided by the Karnataka State Sericulture Research and development Institute (KSSRDI), approximately 2,678 metric tons of raw silk is obtained from the double hybrid bivoltine variety out of a total 11,823 metric tons of silk, which is the high yielding variety of raw silk and can become an import substitute of international grade silk.
Dr. Mahadevappa, a scientist at the KSSRDI said, “Bivoltine variety are high yielding, farmers can make more profit by using it due to its high demand in the market. Only farmers with separate rearing facilities and maintenance of temperature and humidity can rear this bivoltine varieties. On the other hand, Crossbreed variety is used by 80 percent of Karnataka farmers. A farmer using crossbreed can make up to Rs. 400 per kg and a farmer using Bivoltine variety can get up to Rs. 600 per kg as the market demand’’.
A farmer, Vishwamurthy from Harohalli, Ramnagar district said that he yields Crossbreed varieties in which he makes less profit than the farmers using Bivoltine varieties.
Another farmer, Arun. R from Harohalli, Ramnagar district said that by using bivoltine variety he can earn Rs. 3.5 lakh to 4 lakh per year, while the other farmers who are using the crossbreed variety can earn Rs 2.5 to 3 lakh.
According to the annual report of Ministry of Textile, The bivoltine raw silk production has increased by 17.07 percent to 7,941 metric tons during 2021- 22 from 6,783 metric tons during 2020-21. The central sector scheme “Silk Samagra 2, is an integrated scheme for the development of silk industry which is under implementation for the period of 2021-22 to 2025-26 to promote the usage of Bivoltine varieties of mulberry silk. For now India imports silk from countries like China but research and development institutes under Central Sericulture Board are developing and promoting the use of “Bivoltine” varieties to increase the yield of raw silk production and become self-reliant in production of import-substitute international grade silk.
