To sustain development of sericulture in Punjab, the State’s Horticulture Department has proposed a new State Plan Scheme for Catalytic Development Programme during the current financial year with `30.47 lakh.
The new scheme was proposed after the Central Silk Board discontinued the catalytic development programme, being implemented in Punjab, with effect from the financial year 2015-16.
“The main objective of the scheme is to bring horizontal and vertical growth in cocoon production, promote bivoltine sericulture and sericulture in the State and to harness the available natural resources viz waste or degraded land for development of viable and sustainable sericulture,” said State Horticulture department director Gurkanwal Singh.
He said that the State produces bivoltine silk. “The popular silk worm races are NB-4 D2x SH6 and its reciprocal. The agro climatic condition of some pockets of the state is very congenial and conducive for cultivation of mulberry silk,” he said.
He added that the component-wise funding of the proposed scheme would be met from the State and beneficiary share in different ratios ranging from 75:25 to 70:30 subject to final clearance of the scheme by the State Finance Department. “Marginal and landless farmers can adopt silk farming and get good returns as mulberry leaves is all that they need to feed silk worms,” he said.
Singh said that in India, major silk producing states are Mysore, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, Tripura and Maharashtra. The total annual production of raw silk in India is about 31 lakhs kg, out of which mulberry alone accounts the highest — 25 lakhs kg, and non-mulberry is around six lakhs kg.
The total output of silk waste in India is about 12.5 lakhs kg annually, out of which mulberry shares about 10 lakhs kg and the rest is shared by non-mulberry silk. Next to China India is the second largest producer of silk.
“In Punjab, sericulture is practiced in the sub-mountainous area, mainly in four districts — Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Hoshiarpur and Ropar. In the State, around 1200 beneficiaries are covered under sericulture, and the total annual production of mulberry cocoon in Punjab is 25 tonne by using 800 ozs silk seed,” he said.